08.06.2022 18:20
Split
died this Saturday Archie Batterbee, aged 12, who had been in a coma for four months in London, UK. The family believes he was in an accident after taking on a viral internet challenge and suffering irreversible brain damage. The case also became notorious for the legal battle between relatives to prevent his life support from being turned off.
“He fought to the end. I’m so proud to be his mom,” Archie’s mom, Hollie Dance, said outside the hospital.
On Monday, a British court authorized the shutdown of the devices after doctors at the Royal Hospital in London claimed continued life support treatment was not in the boy’s best interests.
The family then made petitions to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the European Court of Human Rights to ask for the decision to be overturned, but the decision was upheld. The Supreme Court concluded that even if life support was maintained, the child would die of organ failure and heart failure over the next few weeks.
The parents then requested transfer to a palliative care unit, arguing that it was a “natural death”, but the court did not accept the proposal. Experts argued that removing it would only cause more suffering and even hasten Archie’s death.
The boy was found unconscious in his home on April 7 and has been hospitalized ever since. He was kept alive through a combination of interventions including ventilation and medication.
From the start, doctors concluded he was brain dead, but the family insisted treatment must continue, claiming that the boy’s heart was still beating and that he was holding his mother’s hand. However, the team responsible guarantees that no vital signs have been recorded since the patient arrived at the hospital.
Hollie believes her son was the victim of the challenge known as the “Blackout Challenge”, viral on the social network Tik Tok, which consists in squeezing his neck until he loses consciousness due to lack of oxygen.