Archie Battersbee: Mother reveals final words to her son before life support withdrawn

The mother of Archie Battersbee has revealed how she apologised to her son on the morning that his life support was withdrawn, telling him that she had fought to the end and would “love him forever”.

Archie died aged 12 on August 6 after a prolonged legal battle, with his family fighting to reverse a court decision in favour of medics who argued he should be allowed to die.

His mother Hollie Dance described how she sat at his bedside to bid farewell to Archie, who had been in a four-month coma.

She told ITV Anglia: “My friend videoed it for me that morning, having the conversation with Archie. Telling him that I’m so proud of him and I’m so proud to be his mum. He was the best little boy ever.

“I was stroking his face and stroking his hair... I was telling him how much I loved him, and I can’t wait to be with him again. I was telling him how special he was... That I’m going to love him forever, and I’m so sorry that it’s come to this. And I tried everything I can.”

Doctors believed that Archie was brain-stem dead and had no realistic prospect of recovery, after he suffered a catastrophic brain injury after being found unconscious at home on 7 April.

The health trust of the Royal London Hospital, where Archie was being treated, asked the High Court to rule on his future, and a judge decided that withdrawing his life support was in his best interests.

Following a string of appeals to different courts over more than a fortnight, the decision was upheld.

She has since brought Archie’s body back to a mortuary in Southend, where she visits daily.

A vigil on was held on Sunday and many of Archie’s friends attended.

Ms Dance told ITV she was starting therapy and was suffering flashbacks

She said: “I’m starting therapy on Saturday, which is a little earlier than planned. I’ve had a few flashbacks,” she said. “I’m going to deal with things how I feel, and my way is to keep busy.”

She added: “If I allow too much negativity to set in I will go downhill very fast. Archie was a very happy little boy and he didn’t like negativity.

“I had 12 of the best years with Archie ever, and there’s nobody or nothing that can ever take that away. Every day of Archie’s life I told him I loved him, from the second he was born.”

Ms Dance said that she wanted Archie’s death to give rise to new procedures for mediating between families and hospital authorities helping avoid the traumatic court battles she and her family endured.