

Archie Battersbee's mum has been begging doctors to keep her son alive after he was found unconscious at home with a ligature around his neck. Credit SWNS[/caption]
Dance, said the court's decision to refuse their application was "another heartbreaking development".
Hollie called for doctors to give her son more time to recover from his coma and appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice to fight her case on Monday Credit: SWNS[/caption]
Archie's mother had said she wanted a "realistic time" for her child to recover after being found unconscious at home in Southend, Essex, on April 7th.
Archie has never regained consciousness. Dance believes her son might have been taking part in an online challenge.
During his treatment, doctors have said that Archie is brain-stem dead and that it is in his best interest to stop his care and withdraw his life-support.
Last week, Appeal Court judges ruled that doctors could lawfully disconnect his ventilator. The decision came after two High Court judges agreed with doctors and said life-support treatment could end.
Archie's family then applied to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities to consider the case, arguing it had a protocol that allowed individuals and families to "make complaints about violations of disabled people's rights".
Speaking after Monday's hearing, Dance said: "This is no way for a compassionate society to treat a family in our situation. We will continue to fight for Archie."
Dance has always been adamant that her son's future "shouldn't be with the decisions of a court - or the hospital".
"I think this sort of decision should be made by the parents," she said.
"I don't think I'm holding on to hope, I'm just asking for a realistic time for my child to recover from a brain injury."
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Medical experts say that the youngster was likely to already be brain dead and that it was in his "best interests" to remove life support. Credit: SWNS[/caption]
Dance said based on evidence from cases similar to Archie's: "I don't think six months was not too much to ask for, before being dragged through a court.
"I don't think I'm holding on to hope, I'm just asking for a realistic time for my child to recover from a brain injury.
"They wanted to turn the machine off on day three. What is the rush?"
"I think while Archie's progressing, I think it's important that evidence is actually put before a court. That he's progressing, not deteriorating like the doctor said that he would."
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Archie - a keen boxer and gymnast - did not regained consciousness after his mum found him at their home in Southend, Essex following a "freak accident" on April 7. Credit: SWNS[/caption]
Sir Mark Hedley, a former High Court judge for the family division, told Radio 4: "I think our social structure is such, that... where there are disputes between citizens and the state, as there are here, they are finally resolved by a judge who is the independent arbitrator."
While he agreed such cases should not be rushed, he said: "The law itself is quite straightforward. It requires me to act in the interests of the child and to look at the child's interests, so far as I can through the eyes of the child.
"The views of the parents and the medical authorities are before me through their respective teams, and my job is to try and look at it through the eyes of the child."Explore more on these topics: