Archie Battersbee (10 March 2010 – 6 August 2022) was a boy from Southend, Essex who was the subject of several court hearings regarding whether or not to withdraw his life support, after he was found unconscious and subsequently considered to have suffered brain stem death. The courts ruled in favour of his medical team, and against his parents, and allowed his life support to be withdrawn.

Incident

On 7 April 2022, Battersbee was found unconscious by his mother, Hollie Dance, with a ligature over his head; she later stated that she believes he was taking part in an online TikTok challenge known as the "blackout challenge". His mother then performed CPR, and called an ambulance. On arrival at Southend University Hospital he remained in cardiac arrest before regaining spontaneous circulation around 40 minutes after his mother had found him unconscious at home. It is believed that Battersbee sustained brain damage during this cardiac arrest, due to a lack of oxygen to the brain for a sustained period of time