Archie Battersbee - Thread 4

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Archie Battersbee - Thread 3 http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/inthee_news/4601962-archie-battersbee-thread-3

“We’ve been failed. This must not happen to another child”

Failed: world class healthcare that gave Archie every single chance he could have possible received, by a 24/7 team of skilled nurses and doctors, free at the point of use, that would have absolutely bankrupted people in a country without the NHS, that enabled her to have an extra four months with her son.

The second sentence: damn right. This must not happen to any other child.

Re the hospice move: I think she’s at a stage where she just needs to feel as if she’s ‘won’ something, so she can have the final say. Moving Archie to a hospice will be practically impossible without him dying en route. It’s not in his best interests.

I get the sense Hollie has never heard or heeded the word ‘no’ before.

😞
There's a difference between desperately, terminally ill, and brain dead sustained entirely by machines for several weeks though.

If thats her thinking then what guarantee is there she would agree to his treatment being withdrawn at a hospice and hate the staff there. The staff she calls murderers are the ones who would be expected to transfer him.

Those kinds of comments leave me absolutely speechless. Who has convinced her that he could recover??

It's been mentioned earlier on in this thread, but it really is terrifying that we are at a point in history where people view professionals and experts with suspicion and distrust and a belief that they must be lying or have sinister motives, but will happily believe Geoff on FB who's "done his own research". That's how we ended up with Brexit, it's how the covid vaccination programme faced so much stick, and how Alfie Evans, Charlie Guard, and now Archie have been afforded no dignity at the end of their lives.

I utterly utterly despair.

I absolutely think that there have been failures along the line, most likely in resources not available to Archie in CAMHS and in supportive social services; though who knows what the story is there, whether he was ever referred etc. Focusing on the specialist healthcare services as ever takes attention from less spectacular services years before that might have made a difference

What a completely grim story this has been. Poor Archie. And the other children? who have lost their brother and whose mother has been too traumatised to go home for months.

I wish they would stop interviewing Hollie. She is crazed with grief, unable to think straight, will be physically and emotionally exhausted and raging at everything she can as way to try express her feelings. She’s so vulnerable. During my Mums last 10 Weeks in hospital it felt like me against the world. Looking back I was absolutely unhinged. I didn’t abuse hospital staff but I can well imagine getting to a point that if a tv team had spoken to me, I’d have said some terrible things. . The developments of Archie’s case needs reporting but these daily tv appearances and interviews feel exploitative.

I think this is probably bang on. She's felt very out of control throughout this process and this is the last thing she can do to try and regain some. I've still yet to hear Archie's dad say anything about any of this.

Where is Archies's advocate in all this? For every interview the parents give, he should be offered the opportunity to put forward the the child's POV

Why though? Holly Dance is choosing to make her views public fuelled, no doubt, by CLC, AA and other "advisors".

There is no obligation for anyone else involved to do the same.

Archie's guardian will be making his/her representations in the correct arena - the court(s) and, I presume, to the medical staff concerned in his ongoing care.

This is not a circus to be played out via mainstream or social media.

I have been down a whole rabbit hole now and it’s very disturbing. There are pictures of Archie in icu and his legs are awfully thin. Screenshots of his TikTok and he was clearly very depressed and had been struggling for some time. This is absolutely the last thing he would have wanted if he was attempting suicide. But I honestly believe barely any of this is about, or for him. I feel great sympathy for his mother but she shows a lot of narcissism I think Archie had to deal with a lot in his short life.

Agreed Piffle. Frankly I don't know what the journalists involved are thinking - maybe that if they don't interview her she'll make videos anyway. But they should have an ethical view that there are interviews that are simply exploitative and which they shouldn't do. I don't even know if journalists are trained in ethics any more but some of the ones who interviewed her certainly would have been.

You did absolutely the right thing. I'm sorry you went through that, and sorry these comments make you doubt that for a moment. 💐

I have nothing but sympathy for Hollie and her family. She is a desperate desperate woman. I just hope she can one day find some peace. She is obviously not well at all, it's not fair to call her a disgrace. We all act differently. She's going through all the emotions and anger is a very very common response. The pain is clear to see and I don't think it's fair to call her any names. I hope her older children bring her comfort as time goes on.

Perhaps the best thing is to let him go to a hospice then if he does die en route Barts cannot be blamed.

Whatever she is getting out of this, the validation/attention/celebrity/ etc., it's very clearly not in her son's best interests.

The interviews with Hollie almost remind me of how "lunatic asylums" would let people pay to go in and watch the patients. She's clearly not well and is being exploited for entertainment.

I’m so sorry for your loss x

I agree with you. Sadly many parents have walked this devastating path and hard as it must be have followed the medical advice, out of love for their child and wanting to make sure their best interests are paramount.

I can see how these posts must be really hurtful, but they are ill informed idiots. Take no notice x

That might be true and the hospital may prefer the courts to make that decision and produce a Court Order but its about Archies best interests and wheres the dignity in dying in a corridor, or in the back of an ambulance and who do they think will transfer him.

What 'church' are you referring to that has millions of followers? Christianity has so many sects and denominations within it that it isn't a singular church and shouldn't be characterised as such.

My Googling shows the nearest children's hospice to the hospital is 7.5 mikes away. Even assuming there was a place for him, and the staff were willing to take him, it's really not feasible is it? That would be quite some journey across London.

I absolutely would blame a hospital that okayed a transfer to a hospice that was almost certain to result in a crash death in transit for their patient, because it was requested by a parent who was quite clearly in desperate straits.

The only possible justifications for a hospice transfer in my view (not an expert but am an HCP) would be that the relationship between the hospital and the parents had broken down to the extent that Archie's opportunity to be with his parents as the ventilator is removed was affected. Like if the parents literally can no longer cooperate even at a basic level with staff members so that they can be with Archie. And from the outside, the nurses on the ward and Hollie have maintained a relationship through all this meaning that Archie could have that time and those presences on the ward without being dragged through hospital corridors and taken to a new place.

They would still find a way to blame them. They would be accused of botching the transfer, not hooking machines up correctly etc you name it.

According to DFA her lawyers are now demanding he is given oxygen after the breathing tube is removed. You really couldn't make it up.

Absolutely. Or the narrative will become "well if they'd given him more time to recover he wouldn't have needed to be transferred at all". I feel so much for the staff at St Barts that are having to manage this on top of providing care to Archie. The fact Hollie published the drs names for all to see despite the high court emphasising staff should remain anonymous to the public is a grim action for her to take.