Hollie Dance: Archie Battersbee's mom fought 'until the bitter end' to save her son
The recent death of a 12-year-old boy Archie Battersbee has left people shocked after witnessing how the authorities decided the fate of the youngster. Before his son passed his mother, Hollie Dance, vowed to "fight until the bitter end." According to Sky News, the mother held her coffee cup tight and shared plans of her to keep fighting even in the morning after she lost her final legal bid to continue his life support treatment. She said, "I'm not the type to sit and cry. I've always been on the move. Do you know I drive 40,000 miles a year for my kids?" The reporter said that the mother is usually spotted in running shoes. Hollie is a single mother and former dancer who worked seven days a week to make sure that her children are fed and raised well. "I had to pay their own father to babysit them. I did everything I could to support them with their passions; Archie's MMA, Lauren's (Archie's sister) passion for horses, Tom (brother) with his boxing," she added.
The Barts Health NHS Trust claimed that Archie's brain stem was dead and requested the court to grant permission to carry out a test to prove the statement. The Trust was against the family of the youngster and wanted the treatment provided to Battersbee to stop immediately. Hollie said, "It's too soon. Why can't they give him a chance? People get longer for broken bones." However, eventually, the court denied responding to the pleading of the mother and ordered all treatments that were being provided to the youngster to be withdrawn.
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The mother also opened up about how the tragic incident happened. Hollie believes that her son was taking part in a dangerous online challenge that went viral on TikTok. While trying the stunt he ended up hurting himself and was found at their home in Southend-on-Sea with a ligature around his neck. His mother immediately ran for help and then cut him down and gave him mouth-to-mouth. She said, "I don't think about that moment. But the other day I left the hospital briefly and it was the first time I wasn't there or at the court and I started getting flashbacks. I felt sick."
Even though medics argued that Archie's brain was decaying. But his mother still went through several court proceedings. She expressed how hard each one of them was but the hardest was the second High Court battle. Due to the absence of a brain stem test during the proceeding, the doctors said that Archie is "most likely dead." Her other kids who attended the session had to hear the medics saying that Archie is dead repeatedly, which was a tough moment for the family. Hollie was losing almost all of the proceedings. Her only victory was when her lawyers could successfully argue that the criminal standard of proof should be applied at the time of determining if someone is dead.