Archie Battersbee laid to rest in silver coffin after parents lost legal battle to keep him on life support
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: More than a month after Archie Battersbee was taken off life support, his family put him to rest on Tuesday, September 13. The 12-year-old’s silver coffin was taken to St Mary's Church in Prittlewell, Southend for the funeral service. An old video of him singing in the school choir was played before Mariah Carey’s 'One Sweet Day' was sung by a church choir.
As per a MailOnline report, the mourners included Archie’s family members who wore black along with purple ribbons and purple ties. The Southend Gymnastics Club’s representative recalled the time when she met the child as a toddler. She said that he had “gorgeous eyes and bright blonde hair” and “the cheekiest smile I have ever seen,” before adding that he showed “all of the courage, bravery and determination that he had shown in the past few months” and that he “always had a smile on his face”.
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On August 6, life support treatment of Archie was stopped by doctors at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London. The boy was in hospital since April 7 after being found unconscious with a ligature around his neck at his Essex home by his mother. He had apparently taken part in a dangerous TikTok challenge.
Archie’s parents filed numerous appeals to keep him on life support but they lost after judges agreed with the doctors' declaration that he was "brain-stem dead." The day he died, Ollie Bessell, who is close to the boy’s family, wrote on Facebook: “I have the heartbreaking responsibility to let all of our followers know that this morning, The Royal London Hospital began the removal of Archies life support system. Talking from a personal point of view, this is a hard one to take. A few weeks ago, I was sat in a room with Archie and I felt the life in him. Although he was not in a good position, he was still very much there.”
After his death, his mother Hollie said: “It's with my deepest sympathy and sadness to tell you Archie passed at 12.15 today. And can I just tell you, I'm the proudest mum in the whole world. Such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end and I'm so proud to be his mum.”
A family member, Ella Carter, also stated: “He was taken off all medication at 10 o'clock. His entire stats remained completely stable for two hours until they reduced ventilation. Then he went completely blue. There is absolutely nothing dignified about watching a family member or a child suffocate [to death]. No family should ever have to go through what we’ve been through, it’s barbaric.”
Meanwhile, late in August, Hollie had spoken to The Mirror. The 46-year-old said, “The social media companies don’t do enough to stop harmful content online. It’s out there and people are grooming our children to do these challenges, it’s disgusting. The people – they’re often adults, not children – who are demonstrating these challenges are sick.”
Referring to a clip, where an adult was showing how to execute such challenges, the devastated mother noted, “This is a grown man demonstrating this ‘trick’ to children. Those people need to be held accountable. The police and the Government need to work together to stop this,” before adding: “That’s the legacy I want for Archie. I want to protect kids and the loved ones left behind. It’s unbearable.”