Archie Battersbee’s mother might consider giving her son mouth-to-mouth if he’s denied oxygen when taken off life support.
The 12-year-old has been in a coma since he was found unconscious at his home in Southend, Essex, on April 7.
Since the incident, the boy has been kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments, at the hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
Despite numerous appeals and a lengthy legal battle from the family to continue his treatment, Archie is set to be moved from Royal London Hospital to a hospice.
Advert
Hollie Dance, the boy's mother, has said she will 'continue to give him oxygen' if doctors switch off the 12-year-old's machine.
A spokesman for the Christian Legal Centre told The Sun that the idea of giving Archie mouth-to-mouth 'may be what Hollie has to resort to'.
It follows the ruling made by the The European Court of Human Rights, which denied a last minute appeal.
In a statement, the European Court of Human Rights said it 'would not interfere' with the decisions of UK courts that life-support treatment should be withdrawn.
Advert
The court said it would not grant an interim measure to continue treatment and declared the parents’ complaints 'inadmissible'.
The statement added the court would only grant such requests 'on an exceptional basis' and 'when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm'.
Ms Dance said: “I pray that the High Court will do the right thing.
Advert
“If they refuse permission for us to take him to a hospice and for him to receive palliative oxygen it will simply be inhumane and nothing about Archie’s ‘dignity’.
“We will fight to the end for Archie’s right to live.”
She said she wanted her son to 'spend his last moments' together with family privately.
Advert
Speaking to Times Radio hours before her son’s life support is due to be turned off, Ms Dance said: “We can’t even have the chance to be in a room together as a family without nurses.”
She added: “There’s absolutely no privacy, which is why, again, the courts keep going on about this dignified death – why aren’t we allowed to take our child to a hospice and spend his last moments, his last days together privately?
“Why is the hospital obstructing it?”
“It’s going be awful today. I woke up absolutely sick to my stomach. Like I just feel this hospital have so much to answer for and I don’t really know what else to say today.”
Anish Vij