Archie Battersbee’s parents have pleaded with the health secretary to prevent NHS hospital against a last-minute order from the United Nations who had determined his life support was not allowed to be disabled.
The 12-year-old’s father and mother, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, had asked the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNRPD) to overturn British doctors’ decision to withdraw the schoolboy’s mechanical intervention. to undo.
His family had argued that stopping treatment would violate the UK’s obligations under Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. the rights of children.
Their wish was granted Friday night with an 11 p.m. court order blocking the international organization’s invocation of Archie’s care.
But Barts Health NHS Trust, the health agency now responsible for looking after the schoolboy, was accused today of threatening to shut down his life support on Monday afternoon despite the intervention.
The Christian Legal Centre, a law firm that has supported Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee with their appeals, revealed that the couple had sent an urgent letter to Health Minister Steve Barclay demanding that he end caring for their son. to prevent.
The government has yet to respond to the United Nations order issued more than 24 hours ago.
Paul Battersbee and Hollie dance outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Friday. The ‘devastated’ couple lost battles in both the High Court and Court of Appeal in London, where they asked doctors to keep Archie Battersbee’s treatment going
Doctors have been given permission to shut down Archie’s life support machine, but his parents try to continue the fight to keep him alive. Pictured is Archie in the hospital
In their letter, Archie’s parents, Mrs. Dance and Mr. Battersbee, beg Health Secretary Steve Barclay to intervene to prevent the “extraordinary cruelty” of ending their son’s life
In their letter, Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee plead with the Minister of Health to intervene to prevent the “extraordinary cruelty” of ending their son’s life.
The letter reads in full: ‘Dear Mr. Barclay, you will be aware of the terrible tragedy our family has been going through since our son Archie suffered severe brain damage in April as a result of a missed online challenge.
“We are grateful to the doctors and nurses at the Royal London Hospital for the treatment and care that Archie has provided over the past four months.
‘However, I am sorry to say that our pain and anxiety has been greatly exacerbated during that period by the actions of two or three senior doctors at the hospital and Barts Health NHS Trust management.
“From day one, both the family and treating clinicians have been pressured daily by the Trust to give up Archie, withdraw life support and let him die. After just three weeks, we were dragged into court in a matter of hours.
‘Since then, during these three months, we’ve been rushed from one court hearing to the next every few days, fighting for Archie’s life against a generously funded army of lawyers and NHS managers.
‘In all those months we never had a few days to process the family tragedy.
“You will know that our case is now before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which last night issued a ‘Interim Measures’ order to the British government to keep Archie alive while the Committee is investigating the case.” takes into consideration. Under Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Disability, the interim measures are binding on the United Kingdom under international human rights law.
“Devastatingly, the Trust’s lawyers have responded by telling the family that the Trust intends to defy the UN order and begin removing Archie’s life support as early as Monday, August 1.
“If this happens, it will be extraordinary cruelty and a blatant violation of Archie’s rights as a disabled person.
Archie has the right to have the decisions about his life and death made by the NHS and UK courts reviewed by an international human rights body. Hastening his death to prevent that would be totally unacceptable.
“I trust that you, as a member of the government responsible for the NHS, will now act immediately to ensure that this does not happen and that our country fulfills its obligations under the international human rights treaties that we have signed and ratified.”
The ‘devastated’ couple lost battles in both the High Court and Court of Appeal in London where they asked doctors to keep his treatment going.
After the UN ban was announced yesterday, Ms Dance revealed her gratitude for being given another chance to keep her son alive.
She said: ‘I am so grateful to the UN for their response and for acting so quickly for my son.
‘We’ve had so much stress and anxiety; we are already broken and not knowing what was going to happen was unbearable. Getting this news now means everything.
“This is the first time this has ever happened in the history of this inhumane system in the UK.
“There’s been so many ups and downs, but we’ve put on the full armor of God, gone into battle, and now we’ve given Archie time, that’s all we’ve ever asked for.”
The High Council had rejected an appeal asking for medics to be banned from turning off his life-support machine until they can appeal.
They have since held talks with bosses at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where he is being treated, in an effort to get assurances that this will not happen while they rely on the UNRPD.
Archie’s parents had argued that the UNRPD protocol allows “individuals and families” to file complaints about disability rights violations.
The UK has joined the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which allows the UNRPD to ask the UK government to delay the withdrawal of life support while a complaint is being investigated.
The family argues that stopping treatment would violate the UK’s obligations under Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. rights of children.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Center that has supported the families’ case, said: “We are delighted with the response from the UN. It is high time that the UK’s processes of proactively ending children’s lives were scrutinized internationally.
“We now hope and pray that in future cases the UN committee will do justice to Archie and his family, as well as other disabled people in British hospitals.
“Life is the most precious gift we have.
“We’ve been standing next to the family from the beginning after the tragedy three months ago and now we continue to pray for this beautiful boy, Archie, and for everyone involved.”
Archie, pictured, was found in April with a ligature over his head and has not regained consciousness since then
Archie with his mother Hollie Dance (left), brother Tom Summers and sister Lauren Summers
Judges heard that on April 7, Ms Dance found Archie unconscious with a ligature over his head.
She thinks he entered an online challenge. The boy has not regained consciousness.
Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, believe he is brainstem dead and say continuing life-support treatment is not in his best interest.
The bosses of the hospital’s board, Barts Health NHS Trust, had asked for decisions about what medical steps would be in Archie’s best interests.
A Supreme Court judge, Ms. Justice Arbuthnot, initially considered the case and concluded that Archie was dead.
But appeals court judges upheld his parents’ objection to Ms. Arbuthnot’s decisions, saying the evidence should be reviewed by another Supreme Court judge.
When they launched their last emergency call today, Ms Dance said: ‘Words cannot describe how devastated we are.
“The pressure put on us from the start to rush through the process of ending Archie’s life was a disgrace. ‘
All we’ve ever asked for is more time. The urgency of the hospital and the courts is inexplicable if other parties are happy that we have more time.
“I don’t think there’s anything ‘dignified’ about planning Archie’s death. For me, this would be the most traumatic outcome.
“Parents need support, not pressure. It’s exhausting what we’ve been through.
“We shouldn’t have to fight endlessly in the hospital for what we think is right for Archie.
“However, top judges have told us that this is the law, if it is, the law must change.
“We will continue to fight for Archie, we will not give up and now we are waiting for the response from the UNRPD.”