UK Court of Appeal judges rule that a judge should reconsider after declaring a boy who suffered brain damage was 'dead'

The family of 12y/o Archie Battersbee are at the Court of Appeal, challenging a ruling that said his life support should be switched off.

Their lawyer argues the previous Judge was wrong to 'declare death' based on Archie's neurological function, without a brain stem test.

Archie's parents' barrister, Edward Devereux QC, is arguing that medical evidence has not shown "beyond reasonable doubt" that the 12-year-old is dead.

His Mum and Dad say his heart is still beating and they want treatment to continue.

Archie has been unconscious since suffering brain damage in an incident at home in Southend in early April.

One key legal issue is that there has been no official diagnosis of death by a doctor, but a Family Court Judge declared him dead earlier this month.

NEW: Court of Appeal judges have ruled that a High Court judge should reconsider the case of Archie Battersbee, and decide whether it is in his best interests for life-support treatment to end.

Some quotes from his mother to the BBC:

The boy’s parents have said they wanted treatment to continue as his heart was still beating.

Archie’s mother Hollie Dance said she was “devastated” by the ruling that his treatment should stop.

She told BBC Breakfast that she sleeps by his hospital bed each night.

“He’s so beautiful - he’s angelic. It’s no different to at home. He looks peaceful - he’s asleep,” Ms Dance said.

His mother said she talked to Archie every day and had told him “you really need to wake up now because we’ve got the biggest battle of our lives and it’ll be really great if you actually helped me”.

She said she had felt him squeeze her hand.

“He’s in there, physically, for whatever reason, whether it’s locked-in syndrome, whether he’s paralysed... I don’t know, but I feel he’s in there,” she said.

Asked if she was concerned she might be prolonging the agony for her son, Ms Dance said: “No... I would be more worried if I gave up and spent the rest of my life thinking ‘what if I’d held on just that little bit longer?’.

“I think that nobody has Archie’s best interest at heart like a mother.

“Inside, I’m broken - but I’ve got to go fight or flight - I haven’t got time to think about my feelings, my emotions at the minute, because this is a fight for Archie’s life.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-61862714

Some more background:

At the end of a final hearing on 13 June, the judge ruled that Archie had died on the day of his MRI scan on 31 May and his life support treatment could stop.

Doctors treating Archie told the High Court that it was “highly likely” he was “brain-stem dead” following scan results and asked the court to consider ordering that his life support should be stopped.

During the final hearing, specialists said tests had shown no “discernible” brain activity and that parts of his brain were showing “significant areas of tissue necrosis”.

Lawyers representing the trust had asked Mrs Justice Arbuthnot to decide what next step was in Archie’s best interests.

Following the ruling on 13 June, Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer at Barts Health NHS Trust, said their “thoughts and sympathies” were with Archie’s family.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-61829522

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