The final days of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee are following a grim pattern we have seen many times before. Remember Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans? Chronically sick children whose parents refused to accept their babies would die, who took to social media conducting impassioned campaigns accusing the NHS of not trying hard enough. These parents gave daily press conferences and online updates, taking their battle through the courts in a futile attempt to gain control of their children’s lives.
The strength of their love and commitment is heart -breaking. Archie’s distraught parents have fought so hard to try to remove their brain-damaged son from the London hospital bed where he is being kept alive on a ventilator.