A court considers the case of Archie Battersbee, 12, who is on life support in hospital.
Image source, Hollie Dance
Test results on a boy with brain damage who is at the centre of a life-support dispute show parts of his brain have died, a High Court judge has been told.
Archie Battersbee, 12, was found unconscious at his home in Southend, Essex, on 7 April.
Specialists at the Royal London Hospital in east London said his life-support treatment should end.
Archie’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, disagree, with his mum saying he was “still in there”.
A specialist, who cannot be named, told Mrs Justice Arbuthnot that the lower part of Archie’s brain stem was significantly damaged and the upper part was also damaged.
He said Archie’s prognosis was “very grave” and told the judge that the youngster’s chances of recovery were “very low”.
He said there had been no improvement since scans were taken in mid-April, but there were signs of deterioration.
“I think Archie has sustained severe enough brain damage that a point of return is unlikely,” he told the court.
Image source, Hollie Dance
Barrister Bruno Quintavalle, representing the family, told the judge that Archie’s heart was still beating.
He also there was an issue as to whether “the correct procedure” had been followed, and whether the family’s views had been taken into account.
Barrister Fiona Paterson, who is leading the legal team for Barts Health NHS Trust, the trust that governs the hospital in Whitechapel, had earlier said the scan results may be “very hard to bear”.
Mrs Justice Arbuthnot has heard that Archie suffered brain damage in an incident at home in early April.
Image source, Hollie Dance
His mother, Ms Dance believes he may have been taking part in an online challenge at the time.
Her son has never regained consciousness.
Previous hearings were told by specialists that they believed Archie was “brain-stem dead”. Ms Dance has said she believed her son was “still in there” and that he “needs more time” to recover.
The final hearing for the case in the Family Division of the High Court is due to end on Wednesday.
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