Archie Battersbee's mum's 'fighting for his right to live'

Archie Battersbee, 12, is in the Royal London Hospital hospital in a coma after an incident at his Southend home on April 7.

A hearing is taking take place at the Family Division of the High Court in London, where judge Mrs Justice Arbuthnot will decide if doctors should continue treating Archie.

Speaking to ITV New the mother said: "It's hell it really is, it's extremely emotional, he's lying there in that hospital bed and I am having to fight for his right to live.

"It's hard, it's really hard. Only a mum knows their child, I don't care what anyone says out there, only a mum knows their child and as a parent if you feel in your gut he's there what would you do.

"I've had to put a block up, so I can fight for him and that's what I will do and I will continue to fight for him. All the time I believe there's hope I am going to continue to fight for that little boy."

Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think Archie is "brain-stem dead".

They say life-support treatment should end and the youngster should be disconnected from a ventilator.

Archie's parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend, say the youngster's heart is still beating and want treatment to continue.

Lawyers representing the Royal London Hospital's governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, have asked Mrs Justice Arbuthnot to decide what moves are in Archie's best interests.