the british boy Archie Battersbee, who had been brain dead since last April and was the center of a family court battle to keep him alive, died this Saturday after the assisted breathing mechanisms were removed, the mother, Hollie Dance, communicated.
The 12-year-old minor, whose case was the center of media attention, died around 12:15 p.m. local time at the Royal London Hospital, in the east of the British capital.
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In a statement to the media outside the hospital, the mother said her son “fought to the end”.
“I want to say that I am the proudest mother in the world. He was a beautiful boy. He fought until the end and I am so proud to be his mother,” the mother said between sobs.
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The family had undertaken a long legal process, with numerous resources, to keep the little boy alive.who had been brain dead since he was found unconscious on April 7 at his home in Southend, Essex county (southeast England).
Archie was found with a rope tied around his head and it is estimated that he may have suffered an accident while participating in a viral challenge. throught social media.
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In recent months, the family sought legal action to prevent the hospital from withdrawing, as the health unit wanted, the assisted breathing devices, considering that they had no chance of recovery.
After several appeals in the British courts and the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights, which gave reason to the hospital, the family also tried unsuccessfully in recent days to allow Archie to be taken from the hospital to a hospice so that he could die thereaway from the noise of Royal London.
The last effort in that direction was exhausted last night after the European Court of Human Rights indicated that the case of transfer to a hospice was “outside” its jurisdiction.
The hospital argued that placing Archie in a hospice was risky because a slight movement of the body could further aggravate his condition.
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A spokesman for the group Christian Concern, which supports Archie’s family, acknowledged that “all legal routes” had been exhausted and that the relatives were “broken”.
During the court proceedings, British judges reiterated that continuing to offer vital support to the boy was “against his best interests”.
Judge Lucy Theis, of the family division of the High Court of London, highlighted, in denying the transfer to the hospice, the “unconditional love and dedication” of the family and stressed that she hoped that the child had the opportunity to die in peace.