Archie Battersbee dies after parents lose legal battle over life support

Archie Battersbee, the 12-year-old boy whose parents fought a long-running legal battle to prevent his life support treatment from being removed, has died, his mother has said.

Supporters of the family came to the hospital with flowers on Saturday morning and created a tribute to Archie in front of the hospital with candles in the shape of the letter A.

A last-ditch plea to the ECHR to intervene was rejected late on Friday, following a high court ruling that he must remain at Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, east London.

Archie, a talented gymnast and lover of mixed martial arts, had been in a coma since suffering a catastrophic brain injury on 7 April. His mother, who had been at his bedside almost constantly ever since, believes it resulted from him choking while taking part in a viral social media challenge.

Doctors said Archie was brain stem dead but his parents wanted life support to continue.

In an interview with Sky News, recorded on Friday, Dance, of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said the hospital had made it clear there were no more options and that life support would be withdrawn at 10am on Saturday.