UK boy, 12, taken off life support after highly-publicized court battle

Archie Battersbee's mother, Hollie Dance, (centre-right) speaking outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, after the High Court judgement on the future of the 12-year-old boy at the centre of a life-support treatment dispute aft LONDON (AP) - A 12-year-old boy who had been in a coma for four months died Saturday at a London hospital after doctors ended the life-sustaining treatment his family had fought to continue.Archie Battersbee’s mother, Hollie Dance, said her son died at 12:15 p.m., about two hours after the hospital began withdrawing treatment.

British courts had rejected both the family’s effort to extend treatment and a request to move Archie to a hospice, saying neither move was in the child’s best interests."I’m the proudest mum in the world,″ Dance said as she stood outside the hospital and wept. "Such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end.″RELATED: Sunken jewels, buried treasure uncovered in the Bahamas from iconic 17th century Spanish shipwreckThe legal battle is the latest in a series of very public British cases in which parents and doctors have sparred over who is better qualified to make decisions about a child’s medical care.

That has sparked a debate about whether there’s a more appropriate way to settle such disagreements away from the courts.Archie was found unconscious at home with a ligature over his head on April 7.

His parents believe he may have been taking part in an online challenge that went wrong.The mother of Archie Battersbee, Hollie Dance speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London.