After weeks of tug-of-war between his mother and his doctors, 12-year-old Archie has died in England from a terminal illness. The boy had probably fallen into a coma after an internet dare – now the life support devices Archie was connected to have been turned off.
Archie Battersbee has been in a coma since April. His family suspects he took part in a dangerous TikTok challenge. He suffered serious brain injuries in the accident at his home in Southend-on-Sea. Doctors at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel saw no chance for Archie to recover and decided to stop the ventilator.
An argument in court ensued—because Archie’s parents didn’t want the boy to die. They campaigned to the end to have the 12-year-old transferred to a hospice so that a “peaceful” death would be possible. Recently, the parents before the Court of Appeal in London and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had failed to apply to move Archie to a hospice.
Mother: “This beautiful boy fought to the end”
On Saturday at 10:00 am the medication was stopped and two hours later the ventilator was finally stopped. At 12:15 am Archie was pronounced dead. “I am the proudest mother in the world. This beautiful boy fought to the end,” his mother, Hollie Dance, told reporters outside the hospital, according to the Daily Mail. She doubted he was really brain dead – her son squeezed her hand, opened his eyes and even cried while he was in the hospital. Doctors then ran tests, but found no change in Archie’s health.
“All I ever asked was to give him six months – what harm would that have done to her?” the mother had recently asked. “They spent a fortune on legal fees to fight me in court — money they could have spent on Archie’s care and that of others.”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
