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Archie Battersbee’s distraught mother believes her son died after accidentally falling from the railing of their home, causing a neck injury, an inquest has heard.
The 12-year-old boy was withdrawn from life support on August 6 last year after his parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, failed in their attempts to overturn a High Court ruling that doctors could legally do so.
The judges were told that Ms Dance found Archie unconscious with a ligature on his head at his home in Southend, Essex, on April 7.
On the first day of an inquest into his death in Chelmsford today, a tearful Mrs Dance said she found her son unconscious by the stairs before running outside and screaming for help.
She said: ‘I was crying hysterically, I was saying ‘please don’t go mommy I love you little man’.
Archie Battersbee, 12, was at the center of a life-sustaining treatment struggle over the summer until his mechanical intervention finally shut down on August 6.
Hollie Dance seen here at a vigil in Priory Park in Southend-on-Sea, in memory of her son Archie Battersbee, who died in hospital on August 6 after weeks of legal battles.
Hollie Dance, 46, pictured with her son Archie, 12, who never regained consciousness after he was found with a ligature around his neck at their home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on April 7.
“I did it over and over again, I just didn’t want him to leave me.”
Asked how she thinks her son died, Mrs Dance replied: “I think he climbed over the railing and probably fell, causing himself serious neck injuries and blacking out.”
She said her belief is that Archie’s death was an “accident.”
Ms Dance also established that Archie was the “apple of my eye”, “much loved” and “protected”.
She said Archie was affected by the separation from her and her father, who endured bullying at school and was removed from general education.
Archie was a lover of gymnastics and mixed martial arts (MMA) with his first fight, which he was “looking forward to”, scheduled for weeks after his death, the inquest heard.
Ms. Dance added that Archie “thought he was the next Spider-Man” and often climbed on things.
Family members said he was “not depressed, just a little bored” in the weeks before his death, Ms Dance said at the hearing.
Archie Battersbee (pictured left to right, in hospital), aged 12, was found unconscious at his home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, with a ligature around his neck on April 7.
The coroner asked Ms Dance if she was aware that Archie had been expressing thoughts of self-harm and suicide, to which she replied: “no.”
Brookes continued: “Police found that he had shared some thoughts with others online or in a WhatsApp group. How were you when you read that?
Ms Dance said: “Heartbroken, very shocked… if there were any marks on her body I would have seen them.”
Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, thought he was brain dead and said continuing life-sustaining treatment was not in his best interest.
Ms Dance previously said she may have been participating in an online challenge and suffered brain damage.
On Tuesday, he told the inquiry: “I still don’t know if Archie was testing the blackout challenge on or before April 7, I still don’t know what he was watching on TikTok.”
She added: ‘I hated the bullying and the loud yelling. I can see that he could possibly be influenced, even though she knew right and wrong, if that’s what her peers and her social media were telling him to do. I’m afraid that’s what he was asked to do.
Archie’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, fought vigorously to keep him on life support, which was finally turned off on August 6.
Brookes said at a preliminary inquest hearing in November last year that he had seen no evidence Archie was participating in any online blackout challenges, but was told police found messages on the young man’s phone reflecting a “state of very low spirits.”
At the start of the hearing, Mr Brookes offered his “deep condolences”.
He said the topics the investigation will cover include Archie’s medical cause of death and his “state of mind and intentions on April 7, 2022.”
The investigation continues.
Archie with his mother Hollie Dance (left), brother Tom Summers and sister Lauren Summers
Archie’s older brother, Tom, 22, would go to the hospital every day to visit him and try to get him to respond.