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Boy at heart of UK court battle dies after life support ends

Undated family handout photo of Archie Battersbee, whose parents have submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in a bid to postpone the withdrawal of his life support. The family of a comatose boy have filed a legal action requesting permission to move their son from a London hospital to a hospice. Archie Battersbee’s parents announced the move after the European Court of Human Rights late Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022 rejected a request to intervene in the case following a series of rulings by U.K. courts that backed doctors who said further treatment was not in the 12-year-old’s best interests because he is brain dead.
AP
Archie Battersbee’s mothe said he died about two hours after the hospital began withdrawing treatment.

The 12-year-old had been in a coma since early April. British courts had rejected the family’s request to transfer him to a hospice, and the European Court of Human Rights refused to intervene.

A 12-year-old boy who has been in a coma for four months has died at a London hospital after doctors ended life-sustaining treatment that had been the subject of a lengthy court battle.

Archie Battersbee’s mother, Hollie Dance, said he died at 12:15 p.m. local time Saturday, about two hours after the hospital began withdrawing treatment.

British courts had rejected the family’s request to transfer Archie to a hospice, and the European Court of Human Rights refused for a second time to intervene in the case.

Dance says, “He fought until the very end. I’m the proudest mum in the world.″

Click here to read more of this article from the Associated Press.