Archie Battersbee's mother releases video son is trying to breathe

Archie Battersbee's mother releases video she claims proves her son is trying to breathe
Archie Battersbee's mother today released a video she claims provides 'new' evidence the 12-year-old is still breathing after Court of Appeal judges ruled the boy could be disconnected from a ventilator.

Archie's mother, Hollie Dance, insists Archie is able to breathe independently of a respirator, and today the Christian Legal Centre - which is supporting the family's case - circulated a video which they want to submit as evidence.
The footage is of an emergency room monitor showing Archie's respiratory rate - which is set by a ventilator. At the start of the footage this increases from 14 to 15 before a diagram of a pair of lungs flashes up - which is sometimes an indicator that a patient has initiated a breath.

Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, say he is brain-stem dead and will not be able to wake up. They believe continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests.

It comes days after Archie's father, Paul Battersbee, who is in his 50s, fell ill on his way to court yesterday morning before being taken into hospital.

A family spokesman today said he had spent a night in hospital but was 'OK now' and should be released before the end of the day.

The family's lawyers had begged Appeal judges to call off yesterday's hearing but they went ahead with delivering their verdict - granting a 48-hour 'stay' on ending the boy's treatment to give his parents time to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

David Foster, from the law firm Moore Barlow, said they wanted the video to be submitted to judges as 'new evidence' so they could review their decision to disconnect him from a ventilator.

Mr Foster added that Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee, who are separated but both live in Southend, Essex, plan to take an appeal in Archie's case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Appeal judges Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division of the High Court and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Peter Jackson yesterday upheld a ruling by a High Court judge who concluded that doctors could lawfully stop providing life-support treatment to Archie.

Archie, a talented gymnast, has been in a coma since he was found unresponsive with a ligature around his neck at his home in Southend on April 7 - allegedly after taking part in a social media trend known as the 'blackout challenge'.

Sir Andrew, referencing media coverage of the case, yesterday said Archie was 'no longer the boy in the photograph' but 'someone whose every bodily function is now maintained by artificial means'.

Ms Dance said following the ruling: 'All we have asked for from the beginning is for Archie to be given more time and for Archie's wishes and ours to be respected.

'As long as Archie is alive, I will never give up on him, he is too good to give up on.

'When he is to die, we believe it should be in God's way and in God's time. What is the rush?

'Why is the hospital and the courts so keen to push this through as fast as possible?

'I don't believe there is anything ''dignified'' about planning Archie's death.

'For me, this would be the most traumatic outcome.'

Mr Battersbee is not believed to have had pre-advanced warning of the ruling