Archie Battersbee: Mum 'found out through press' that High Court judge's decision to end son's life would be sent in an email
| Published date | 15 June 2022 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
His future became the centre of a legal dispute at the Family Division of the High Court, after doctors at the hospital in Whitechapel argued that it was “very likely” he was brain-stem dead, and should be removed from ventilation. During a two-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice last week, specialists said that there had been “no discernible” brain activity from the youngster.
READ MORE: Grenfell neighbours can 'still smell' gut-wrenching fire five years after tragedy
Hollie and her former partner, Paul Battersee, disagreed and said that their son’s heart was still beating and he had been responsive in hospital. Despite this, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded that Archie had died at noon on May 31, following the results of MRI scans taken that day.
Following the ruling, MyLondon sat down with Hollie and two family friends, where she revealed that she had first begun to develop misgivings about the East London hospital on day three of Archie’s treatment. After ordering a hot chocolate, she said: “My gut has told me from day three. I can’t say I thought anything untoward before day three because I was still in shock. From day three, things didn’t sit right.”
She has accused the hospital of failing to consider the family’s religious beliefs, as well as rushing them towards the brain-stem testing. Of Mrs Justice Arbuthnot’s decision, she said: "I am not shocked at all, I knew it was going to go that way, I knew right from the word go it was going to go that way. This hospital has been way too pushy to end Archie’s life.
“Within three days of being in here they wanted to end Archie’s life, and that was before he was out of any sedation. Unless they’re very psychic, they obviously knew a lot more -he hadn’t even had an MRI or anything back then that could possibly indicate the extent of the brain damage.”
“I don’t know whether to feel sorry for the judge, she’s been put evidence in front of her that she has to give her verdict to, make her judgement from the evidence in front of her. She’s been fed a lot of lies,” she continued. Showing us photographs of Archie’s treatment, she maintains that despite not regaining consciousness, the youngster has been able to “hold his own blood...
To continue reading
Request your trial