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'He went completely blue': Archie Battersbee's sister-in-law hits out at 12-yr-old's 'undignified' death

Archie died in hospital on Saturday after he suffered a 'catastrophic brain injury' while purportedly taking part in a viral asphyxiation challenge

LONDON, ENGLAND: Archie Battersbee's sister-in-law bemoaned that there was "nothing dignified" about the 12-year-old boy's death.

Archie died in hospital on Saturday, August 6, after he suffered a "catastrophic brain injury" while purportedly taking part in a viral asphyxiation challenge. The youngster was being kept alive through various life support systems, including ventilation and drug treatments, while his parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee fought a drawn-out legal battle to keep his treatment going. Archie's sister-in-law Ella Carter spoke to reporters outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, saying he went "completely blue" before he died.

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"He was taken off all medication at 10 o’clock and his stats remained completely stable for two hours," Ella said during an emotional speech. "He went completely blue. There is absolutely nothing dignified about watching a family member or a child suffocate. No family should ever have to go through what we’ve been through, it’s barbaric," she added. Meanwhile, Archie's devastated mother Hollie, of Southend, Essex, said, "Can I just say, I’m the proudest mum in the world. He was such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end, and I am so proud to be his mum."

Dance said the hospital had made it clear there were no more options for her son and that life support would be withdrawn at 10 am on Saturday. She recounted how painful the last few months had been for the family. "The last however many weeks since April 7, I don’t think there’s been a day that hasn’t been awful really," Hollie told Sky News. "It’s been really hard. Despite the hard strong face and appearance obviously, in front of the cameras up until now, I’ve been pretty broken. I’ve done everything that I promised my little boy I’d do. And I’ve done it."

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Archie's tragic demise sent shockwaves across the globe and sparked a discussion about courts intervening in civil matters of life and death. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, took to social media on Saturday to express his sorrow over the child's passing. "When the life of someone is decided by a court, humanity is defeated," he declared. 

On June 13, a High Court judge ruled that Archie was clinically "dead" and that his life support could be withdrawn. His parents tried to appeal the decision, but their plea was rejected by the Court of Appeal. Then, on July 28, the Supreme Court said it won't intervene in the case and upheld the Court of Appeal decision. Hollie and Paul continued to fight for their son nonetheless, approaching the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights to intervene, albeit in vain.