THE mother of a 12-year-old boy in the middle of a life-support dispute has told of the harrowing moment she found her beloved son unconscious at home.
Appearing on ITV This Morning, Hollie Dance told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby she fears son Archie Battersbee may have been participating in a viral ‘blackout’ challenge.
The challenge has allegedly been linked to several child deaths across the world.
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Ms Dance recalled how she and her “energetic and happy” son had been sharing a joke about their pet rabbit just moments before she found him.
“He’s then left, gone a bit quiet. I’ve pottered around, come out my bedroom and called him,” she said.
“As I’ve looked to the right the rabbit is at the top of the stairs and then I’ve seen Archie the other side of the banister.
“First of all, I thought he was just standing there but then I realized he had something tied around his head.
“So, obviously I’ve run over to him and tried to get it off.
"I tried to get it off, but I couldn't lift him and put it over his head.
“I run out screaming to get help."
A neighbour hearing the commotion rushed to their aid and assisted in providing CPR while they waited for an ambulance.
Archie was rushed to Southend Hospital and then moved to Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
His family are now fighting a High Court case to keep his life-support going as doctors argue he is "brain-stem dead".
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