Archie Battersbee, a child with an “infectious zest for life”, suffered brain damage around three months ago when, his mother believes, he drowned while taking part in a viral social media trend known as the “blackout challenge”. Archie’s parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend in Essex, had fought for their son to continue receiving treatment as long as his heart was beating. But at London’s High Court on Friday, Judge Hayden said it was with “deep regret” that he ruled Archie had no prospect of recovery. After considering the evidence, the judge described what had happened to Archie as a “tragedy of immeasurable proportions” but agreed with doctors at the Royal London Hospital who said the child was “brain dead”. Archie’s mother, Hollie Dance, had asked that her son be “given a lot more” on life support. Photo: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian It was in Archie’s best interests to stop medical treatment, the judge said. “Continuing treatment is futile,” he said. “It only serves to prolong his death, while it cannot prolong his life.” Archie was, the judge said, a “much loved” little boy. His mother, he said, had not left her son’s side, not even to return home, after Archie was taken to hospital on April 7. His parents and other members of Archie’s family were in court to hear the judge explain his decision that “for Archie, improvement is not possible.” He added: “Unfortunately there is no treatment that can reverse the damage that has been done to Archie’s brain. There is no hope of recovery.” Another high court judge, Ms Justice Arbuthnot, had earlier concluded that Archie was dead. But appeal court judges upheld a challenge, made by Archie’s parents, to the decisions made by Arbuthnot and said the evidence should be reviewed. Dance had earlier told the court that she found her son unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7. He believes he may have been participating in an online challenge. The child never regained consciousness. Hayden said that after reviewing the medical evidence, he concluded it was “compelling and unanimous” and painted a “bleak” picture. The judge said the evidence showed Archie had suffered “significant injury” to “multiple areas” of his brain and had not “regained consciousness at any time”. “Archie’s mother described him as a fighter and I have no doubt that he was,” she said. “But the fight, if it can properly be called such, is no longer in Archie’s control. The brain damage has deprived him of all physical autonomy. Eventually Archie’s organs will fail and eventually his heart will stop.” Hayden said the reality of Archie’s case was “terrible”. In an interview with the Guardian, Dance said the past two months had been “torture” but the family was pressing ahead with an appeal and believed the judge had made “a number of mistakes” in the case. She said she had seen small signs that her son’s health was improving. “A lot more should be given to Archie,” he said. “There are Covid patients who stay six months to a year and are on ventilators fighting for their lives. Archie was eight very young weeks and we were in and out of court.’ Dance said the impact on the family of her son’s accident has been “emotionally draining.”
