The family of Archie Battersbee,12, say they are “devastated” as a court rules life support can end.
Image source, Hollie DanceTreatment for a brain-damaged boy in a coma should stop, a High Court judge has ruled.
Archie Battersbee, 12, was found unconscious at his home in Southend, Essex, on 7 April.
Doctors treating him at the Royal London Hospital in east London told the court it was “highly likely” he was “brain-stem dead” and asked for his life support to end.
Archie’s parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee disagreed.
The court previously heard that Archie suffered brain damage during an incident at home, which his mother believed may have been related to an online challenge.
Archie has not regained consciousness since.
In a written ruling, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded Archie died at noon on 31 May based on MRI scans that day.
She said: “I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established.
“I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee.”
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