It is ‘very likely’ 12-year-old Archie Battersbee is ‘brain-stem dead’ Doctors tell High Court judge

Doctors treating a 12-year-old child who is the subject of a High Court case over whether or not to keep him on life support believe he is’very likely’ brain-stem dead.

A expert testified yesterday about a number of worries concerning Archie Battersbee, who lost consciousness two months ago after sustaining brain damage in an event at his house.

Doctors at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, said Archie’s life support should be turned off and he should be taken off a ventilator.

Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, Archie’s parents from Southend, Essex, disagree.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot has been urged by lawyers for the Royal London Hospital’s governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, to decide what steps are in Archie’s best interests.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot is presiding over a final hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, which is set to end tomorrow.

The unnamed physician informed the judge of a number of issues raised by Archie’s medical team.

‘We believe it is very likely that he is brain-stem dead,’ she said, adding that testing found no ‘discernible’ brain activity but’significant areas of tissue necrosis.’

Archie suffered brain injury after an incident at home in early April, according to Mrs Justice Arbuthnot.