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The Royal London Hospital: "Archie is in such an unstable condition that there is a significant risk even if he is turned inside his hospital bed"
Photo: ANDY RAIN/EPA
It is apparently certain: the devices that ventilate Archie, who is classified as brain dead, in a London hospital will not run for much longer.
The parents fought for the further treatment of their son, but lost in all instances.
However, it is still unclear where the life-sustaining measures will be ended.
If it is up to the family, it should be in a hospice.
But there are concerns.
"I pray that the High Court does the right thing," said Archie's mother, Hollie Dance, after the family applied to the High Court in London this morning for Archie to be placed in a hospice.
They don't wish him a full, sterile hospital room, but a quiet, peaceful environment in the last minutes of his life.
Doctors see no chance of recovery
Archie's mother describes the fact that the clinic is opposed to this wish as "cruel, inhuman and undignified".
But the treating doctors argue: "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," says the hospital operator.
"This means that in his condition, being transferred by ambulance to a completely different environment would most likely hasten the premature deterioration that the family wishes to avoid."
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 and want to end the life-sustaining measures.
Virtually all bodily functions are only operated artificially - so it is in the boy's best interest to switch off the devices.
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.
Hollie Danc: "This is the end"
What is in the patient's best interests is often decided by judges in the UK on the advice of medical professionals.
The wishes of parents and relatives are not always taken into account.
"This is the end," Archie's mother, Hollie Danc, told reporters in London on Wednesday night.
She herself was firmly convinced to the last that her son was making progress – and was hoping for treatment abroad.
Now she wants to ensure that "Archie's name will live on," she says in an interview with Times Radio.
The family gets support for their wish for a place in the hospice from the German Foundation for Patient Protection.
"This is how the inhumanity of the healthcare system is taken to the extreme," criticizes board member Eugen Brysch.
There are professional children's hospices in both Great Britain and Germany.
"Children and young people like Archie are not an exceptional situation for such facilities."
bbr/dpa
