Despite another defeat in court, the parents of the terminally ill Archie in England do not want to give up and continue to fight for their son to be placed in a hospice. The family and their supporters filed an application with the Court of Appeal on Friday, after the High Court ruled against the 12-year-old being transferred from hospital to a hospice to die.
Archie has been in a coma since April. He sustained serious brain injuries in an accident at home in Southend-on-Sea, possibly during an internet dare. The treating doctors see no chance of recovery.
The UK’s highest court had backed the doctors’ decision to let Archie die. A final appeal by the parents to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was also unsuccessful.
Archie’s parents then tried to get Archie transferred to a hospice so that their son could spend his final hours in a quieter, more peaceful environment. However, the hospital refused: “Archie is in such an unstable condition that there is a significant risk even if he is turned inside his hospital bed, which must be done as part of his ongoing care,” the hospital operator said. A transfer by ambulance to a completely different area would therefore most likely worsen his condition rapidly.
The High Court agreed with this assessment. It was in Archie’s best interest that life support be removed at the hospital rather than in another setting, the judge said. The London clinic had already announced several times for the measures to be discontinued, but these were repeatedly delayed due to the long legal dispute over Archie’s fate.
