Archie Battersbee: If tomorrow’s our son’s last day then so be it, but we made a promise to him & we’ll fight to the end
THE parents of Archie Battersbee have vowed they will challenge a Court of Appeal ruling and “fight till the end” in a bid to stop their son’s life support being turned off.
Dad Paul Batterbee and Mum Hollie Dance were dealt the devastating final blow this afternoon as the court refused to overturn their decision.
Speaking outside The Royal London Hospital today, Ms Dance made a last ditch passionate plea to the powers that be.
She said: “We made a promise to Archie, we will fight to the end. And Archie’s still fighting.
“If tomorrow’s the last day then so be it, but we will be applying to the Supreme Court.”
Ms Dance added that cutting off the life support – scheduled to happen at noon on Tuesday – would not be fair to her son.
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She said: “I’ve got my son’s best interests at heart – Paul, and the siblings – nobody else has got Archie’s best interests at heart.
“And I say, and I still stand by it, Archie’s best interests would be to allow that child time to recover. If he doesn’t recover he doesn’t recover, but give him time to recover.”
The heartbroken parents hoped their 12-year-old’s treatment would continue after a UN committee requested a delay last week.
Postponing the end of Archie’s treatment would have given the UN time to determine whether letting him die was in breach of his rights as a disabled person.
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But his parents’ hopes were cruelly dashed this afternoon.
The family have instead been granted a short delay to 12pm tomorrow. His life support was previously set to be turned off at 2pm today.
Archie was found with a ligature over his head after a social media dare at home in Southend, Essex on April 7 this year.
The youngster suffered brain damage in the “freak accident” and has been unresponsive ever since.
A High Court judge had previously ruled that ending treatment is in Archie’s best interests, after reviewing evidence.
Ms Dance this morning said she was handed a letter laying out the “choreographed execution” of Archie at 2pm today.
“There was no meeting, sat down and broken to gently,” she said.
“We made a promise to Archie, we will fight to the end. And Archie’s still fighting”
Hollie Dance
Ms Dance said they were given the letter and “just left to deal with our own feelings”.
She added: “It’s just caused so much stress. This could have been totally prevented and handled totally different to how it’s been handled.
“We shouldn’t have been dragged through the courts.”
Ms Dance said the last couple of months have been “an emotional rollercoaster”.
Before the hearing on Monday, she said: “It’s just left me feeling very anxious all weekend.
“I’ve carried a lot of anxiety here in my chest. It just feels awful.”
In written submissions to the Court of Appeal today, Edward Devereux QC – acting for Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee – said the UN’s request to delay turning Archie’s life support off was “binding” under international law.
He argued that any failure to abide by the committee’s request, made in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, would amount to a “flagrant, egregious and unacceptable breach of international law”.
Mr Devereux asked the court to grant a stay to prevent the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment until after the committee has had time to consider Archie’s case.
But, Fiona Paterson, representing Barts Health NHS Trust, said the UN committee’s request is not binding.
In their judgement, Sir Andrew McFarlane – Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Moylan – said: “My decision is that, save for granting a short stay until 12 noon tomorrow, the parents’ application for any further stay is dismissed.”
The judge said the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – which the UN committee based its request on – is an “unincorporated international treaty”.
‘COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE’
He said: “It is not part of the law of the United Kingdom… and it is not appropriate for this court to apply an unincorporated international treaty into its decision-making process.”
He added: “Every day that (Archie) continues to be given life-sustaining treatment is contrary to his best interests and, so, a stay, even for a short time, is against his best interests.
“In short, his system, his organs and, ultimately, his heart are in the process of closing down.
“The options before the court have always been stark.”
Sir Andrew said the options before the courts were withdraw treatment immediately – resulting in Archie’s death a short while later – or let him die at some time in the coming weeks.
His parents said this would allow him to pass away at a time “chosen by God”.
Archie’s parents are being supported by campaign organisation, the Christian Legal Centre.
The court adjourned briefly to allow lawyers to talk to Archie’s parents about a possible bid to ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal against the decision.
A letter to the family from Barts Health NHS Trust on Saturday said: “We understand that any discussions around the withdrawal of Archie’s treatment are very difficult and painful.
“However, we want to ensure that you and your family are involved as much as you wish to be.”
Archie’s family were told how the withdrawal process is to be performed, with the aim to “preserve Archie’s dignity”.
The letter went on: “You or any of the family may wish to lie on Archie’s bed with him or have him in your arms, if that should be practically possible.”
Writing to the Health Secretary on Saturday, Ms Dance said: “If this happens, this will be an extraordinary cruelty, and a flagrant breach of Archie’s rights as a disabled person.
“Archie is entitled to have the decisions about his life and death, taken by the NHS and UK courts, to be scrutinised by an international human rights body.
“Hastening his death to prevent that would be completely unacceptable.
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“I trust that you will now act immediately, as a member of the Government responsible for the NHS, to ensure that this does not happen, and our country honours its obligations under the international human rights treaties which we have signed and ratified.”
Doctors treating Archie think he is brain-stem dead and say continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests.