(Newser)
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The parents of a 12-year-old who doctors say will not recover from extensive brain damage are continuing to fight against his removal from life support in the UK with an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. “We now hope and pray that the ECHR will look favorably on the application,” says Hollie Dance, mother of Archie Battersbee, who was found unconscious with a ligature over his head at his home in Essex on April 7, per the BBC. “I am hoping that they will step in and give Archie a right to live,” she says, adding, “We will not give up on Archie until the end.”
Archie would’ve already been removed from life support had it not been for the appeals of his parents, including to the UK Supreme Court, which have so far been unsuccessful. He was to be taken off life support at 11am local time on Wednesday unless his parents submitted their application for a stay to the ECHR—their last remaining option—by 9am, per the Guardian. “We can confirm that the court has received an application for interim measures and that it is being processed currently,” the ECHR says, per the Telegraph.
Barts Health NHS Trust, which operates Royal London Hospital where Archie has been under care, says it will “make no changes to Archie’s care until the outstanding legal issues are resolved.” Dance says health providers in Japan and Italy have offered to continue treatment for Archie “if this country can’t treat him or they’re not willing to treat him,” per the BBC. “If they can offer him some hope, then give him that chance,” she says, per the Telegraph. (Read more life support stories.)
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