Archie Battersbee 'would die in weeks even if life support kept on' - judge's comments in full as appeal rejected

The Supreme Court said that Archie Battersbee 'would die in the course of the next few weeks' even if life-sustaining support was continued. Archie's parents have been battling for Archie to remain on life support and lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Tuesday (August 2).

But the judges rejected the appeal and said in a statement that the 12-year-old would die 'through organ failure and then heart failure.' Archie has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by his mother on April 7 and is currently being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments, at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London.

Lord Hodge, the court’s deputy president, considered the application for permission to appeal alongside Lords Kitchin and Stephens – the same panel of Supreme Court justices who rejected an appeal bid by Archie’s parents last week. Announcing the court’s refusal to hear the appeal, the judges said: “As this panel stated in its note of determination last week, the justices have great sympathy with the plight of Archie’s devoted parents who face a circumstance that is every parent’s nightmare – the loss of a much-loved child.”

Read more:Supreme Court rejects appeal by Archie Battersbee's parents over life-support withdrawal

The judges continued: “It has to be borne in mind that, sadly, the central issue between Archie’s parents on the one hand and the NHS trust, which is supported by Archie’s very experienced guardian, has not been about Archie’s recovery but about the timing and manner of his death.

“As Sir Andrew MacFarlane recorded in his earlier judgment of July 25, there is no prospect of any meaningful recovery. Even if life-sustaining