The funeral of 12-year-old Archie Paul Battersbee took place in Southend-on-Sea on Tuesday 13 April 2022.
St Mary’s Church was packed with people wanting to show their respects to Archie and his family. Sadly, Archie lost his life after doctors turned off his life support in August 2022, after a long legal battle to keep him alive.
Andrea Williams speaks of the significance of his case: “We stood with the family through many hard weeks, we continue to stand with them. We were contending for life, to give this child the very best chance at life.
“… We need a system where parents are truly involved, where they don’t have to fight a system against all the odds, where medical evidence can be introduced as the timeline continues, rather than relying on decisions made right at the beginning – so that we don’t weaken laws around the end of life, but also so that we don’t become the arbiters of when death should occur.”
