British justice refused on Friday to transfer a brain-dead 12-year-old child to a palliative care home, the last fight for parents who have already exhausted all remedies to continue the care that keeps their son alive. According to the Christian organization Christian Concern, supporting the parents of the young boy, they were told that he would be put an end to the treatments which keep him alive from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday (09:00 GMT). Archie Battersbee has been kept in a coma in a London hospital since April. He is considered brain dead by doctors and British justice had authorized the hospital in mid-July to end treatment.
“Broken”
His parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, had to resolve to let their son die after having exhausted all legal remedies, in the United Kingdom and before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They are now fighting for their son to be able to leave the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, and be transferred to a hospice for the withdrawal of care. “Taking into account the wishes of the family and their motivations, the equipment in the care home, what Archie would have wanted, the risks of a transfer and his increasingly fragile health, (…) I think that it is in his interest to stay in the hospital for the cessation of treatment”, said the judge at the High Court in London on Friday. The hospital considers him too unstable for a transfer, which could “very likely to accelerate the degradation feared by the parents”.
The parents filed a request for appeal, but it was denied on Friday evening. A request in this regard was also rejected by the ECHR. “All the wishes of the family have been denied by the authorities”had reacted the mother of Archie at the end of the judgment of first instance. “We are broken, but we will carry on because we love Archie and we refuse to give up on him.” Archie was found unconscious at his home on April 7 and has not regained consciousness since. According to his mother, he participated in a social media challenge to hold his breath until he passed out. His parents claim to have observed signs of life but for the medical profession, his case is hopeless, justifying the cessation of treatment. “His body, organs and heart are shutting down”had underlined Monday the judge Andrew McFarlane, sitting at the court of appeal.