Bishop welcomes Court decision on life support for boy in coma

Source: CBCEW/ICN

Bishop John Sherrington has welcomed a decision by the High Court to appeal agains a decision to switch off life support treatment for a 12 year old boy. Archie Battersbee from Southend has been in a coma since an accident on 7 April. After being transferred to the Royal London Hospital in east London, run by Barts Health NHS Trust, doctors told Archie's family they believed his brain damage was so significant that he may be brain stem dead.

Last week, a High Court judge ruled that Archie was "brain stem dead" and treatment could stop. However, following another hearing the same judge gave permission for Archie's parents to take their case to the Court of Appeal.

Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues said: "The sad case of Archie Battersbee's condition is very distressing. The Catholic Church requires moral certainty before it recognises death. Pope John Paul II made clear that, in principle, death can be established with moral certainty by neurological criteria. However, to date, in Archie's case it has not been established by standard criteria that he has died nor that his brain-stem has died. Admittedly in his condition these criteria for death are difficult to use and carry risks, but one cannot judge life and death matters on probabilities saying that it is 'likely or very likely' that he has died. We note that the judge has allowed Archie's parents to appeal to the Court of Appeal. We seek and pray that he will continue to be treated with full dignity in his disabled condition with continuation of his life-sustaining treatment in accord with his parent's wishes until there is a clear agreement that his death has occurred."

Archie's mother Hollie said she felt it was too soon to give up on her son. She told reporters that when she held his hand he squeezed it. She said her "gut instinct" was that her son was "still in there".