ARCHIE’S family have made an application to the High Court in London to move the 12-year-old from Royal London Hospital to a hospice.
A campaign spokesman confirmed the application, which had to be made by 9am today, has been made to allow Archie Battersbee to move to a hospice.
As the application has been made, the life support will not be withdrawn this morning until the High Court has made a decision.
Yesterday, his parents Hollie Dance, and Paul Battersbee, were given a 9am deadline to file the request or his treatment would be stopped by the Trust at 11am today.
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused an application from the boy’s parents on Wednesday to delay any changes to his treatment.
The family confirmed they have now lodged a final application to the High Court in London to transfer Archie from the Royal London Hospital to a hospice.
Hollie Dance, the boy’s mother, said she wanted her son to “spend his last moments” together with family privately.
Speaking to Times Radio hours before her son’s life support is due to be turned off, Ms Dance said that Archie’s loved ones have not been able to have privacy at the hospital, saying: “We can’t even have the chance to be in a room together as a family without nurses.”
“There’s absolutely no privacy, which is why, again, the courts keep going on about this dignified death – why aren’t we allowed to take our child to a hospice and spend his last moments, his last days together privately?
“Why is the hospital obstructing it?
“It’s going be awful today.
“I woke up absolutely sick to my stomach. Like I just feel this hospital have so much to answer for and I don’t really know what else to say today.”
A family spokeswoman added a hospice has agreed to take him and said: “Hospices are well and truly designed for palliative and respite care.
“Archie is now obviously on palliative care so there is no reason whatsoever for him not to take his last moments at a hospice.”
Archie has been in a coma since he was found unconscious at his home in Southend, Essex, on April 7 and is being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments, at the hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
Ms Dance believes he was taking part in an online challenge at the time and he has not regained consciousness since.
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