The parents of Archie Battersbee were overjoyed to hear that a U.K. Court of Appeals judge overturned the decision to remove their 12-year-old son from life support.
A panel of three judges on Wednesday ruled that the case should be heard again after the High Court judgment wrongly determined that the boy was dead, according to the Christian Legal Centre which has been supporting the family.
GOOD NEWS: The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision that 12-year-old Archie Battersbee’s life support should be removed.
Please continue praying for Archie, his family and all involved. The case will be heard again by the High Court on 11 July.https://t.co/D1dpfOJgwq
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) June 29, 2022
CBN News previously reported that Archie’s mother and father, Holly Dance and Paul Battersbee, are trying to give their son every chance at life after he was found unconscious on April 7 with a cord around his neck. He reportedly had participated in what is believed to be an online blackout challenge.
The boy has remained on life support at the Royal London Hospital and has not regained consciousness.
Doctors said it’s “highly likely” that the boy is already brain dead and asked the court to rule that it was in Archie’s “best interests” to be taken off of life support.
His parents say a video of Archie gripping his mother’s fingers is proof that he’s still alive and his brain is functioning.
Lawyers for the Barts Health NHS Trust said doctors have recreated the moment of the boy holding a clinician’s hand, but the hospital workers said it was just “friction” not a grip, which the doctors say is consistent with muscle stiffness.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said, “The ruling shows the critical importance of never giving up. In these difficult moments, nerves and principles are important. This judgment upholds life and will protect many more people from a slippery slope in which the legal definition of death is expanded.”
She continued, “Where there’s life, there’s hope. We keep praying that Archie will be able to recover, given more time.”
An online petition to the hospital’s chief executive officer has been created to ask that legal action be withdrawn in Archie’s case. So far, 89,768 people have signed it.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up on the boy’s behalf. So far, the account has raised £29,487 GBP which is nearly $36,000 U.S. dollars.
The Daily Mail reports that Archie’s parents were “delighted” with the court’s recent decision and that it “couldn’t really have gone any better.”
The High Court is scheduled to hear Archie’s case again on July 11, with the understanding that the boy is still alive.
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