Hollie Dance has been interviewed for the first time since Archie Battersbee died shortly after his life support was switched off earlier this month. It came after months of legal battles over his care, which led to doctors being given permission to stop treatment for Archie, who was said to be dead from his brain stem, despite his parents wanting him to continue treatment. Hollie Dance attends a vigil for her son after his death (PA wire) Archie was found unconscious at his home in Essex in April in an incident his mother believes may be linked to an online challenge. Has this story affected you? If so, please email [email protected] It claims more than 80 other children have died from taking part in the ‘blackout challenge’ – a dare which encourages people to hold their breath until they pass out from lack of oxygen. “Social media companies are not doing enough to stop harmful content online,” Ms Dance told The Mirror. “It’s out there and people are grooming our kids to do these challenges, it’s disgusting. People – often adults, not children – who exhibit these challenges are sick. “The police and the government need to work together to stop this.” Archie suffered brain damage after an incident at home in April (Hollie Dance/PA) (Average PA) There have been several reports around the world of children dying after taking part in the blackout challenge – including a 12-year-old boy from Colorado in the US and a 10-year-old girl from Palermo, Italy last year. Social media platform TikTok was also sued in May by the family of Nylah Anderson, a 10-year-old girl who died in the US last December after allegedly attempting the challenge. After Nylah’s death, a TikTok spokesperson told People: “This disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to be learning about from sources other than TikTok, long predated our platform and was never a trend of TikTok. We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and will immediately remove relevant content if found.” Mrs Dance told The Mirror that she did not want anyone else to suffer like her son and family, saying protecting children was the legacy she wanted for Archie. It comes as the bereaved mother said she also planned to lobby the government to seek a change to the law on decisions to end life-support treatment. Ms Dance says she wants her son’s legacy to save others from similar pain (Hollie Dance/PA) Mrs Dance has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, asking for a meeting to discuss the implications of her son’s case. He says he wants a public inquiry into “the workings of this system” and a change in the law. Mrs Dance, who was hopeful her son would recover, said she felt “backed into a corner” by the British legal system. Ms Dance took her fight to keep Archie on life support to the courts (PA) Her family felt “stripped” of their rights, she said, after Barts NHS Health Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital, which cared for Archie, took the case to court. The Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling which prevented the family from taking Archie to a hospice to die. “Change is needed,” he told the BBC on Thursday. “As if that’s not traumatic enough, you’re dealing with fighting the system… I wasn’t ready to do this. “We were backed into a corner. It was the hospital that took us to court, not the other way around. “It was difficult, stressful and unnecessary, we need change.”
