The parents of a 12-year-old boy who suffered a “devastating” brain injury three months ago are waiting for a Supreme Court judge to decide in the final round of a life-sustaining treatment battle.
doctors Archie Battersbee says continuing treatment is not in his best interest and should be ended.
Archie’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend in Essex, disagree.
Mr Hayden reviewed evidence Monday at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
He will make a statement on Friday about which steps are in Archie’s best interests.
Another Supreme Court judge had previously ruled Archie dead, but the appeals court judges upheld an objection by Archie’s parents to Ms. Justice’s decisions Arbuthnot and that evidence needs to be reviewed.
Mrs. Dance urged Judge Hayden to let Archie die of natural causes.
She said her son would like the treatment to continue.
Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, have told judges they believe he is “brain-stem dead” and say continuing life-support treatment is not in his best interests.
lawyers Barts Health NHS Trust, representing the governing trust of the Royal London Hospital, have asked for decisions on what steps are in Archie’s best interest.
Archie’s father Paul Battersbee, who also lives in Southend but is separated from Ms Dance, told Judge Hayden that Archie “wouldn’t want to leave” his mother.
“I think he should be left alone a little longer,” he said.
“I’m not looking at it through rose-colored glasses, but it’s only been 12 or 13 weeks and doctors have been wrong before.”
He added: “The most important thing for me is to know that he went God’s way.”
Archie’s mother has shared how she found him unconscious on April 7 with a ligature over his head and believes he entered an online challenge.
He has not regained consciousness.