A woman whose son is in a coma has urged the courts to give him more time to recover as the legal battle over his care continues.

Hollie Dance, from Southend, says doctors presiding over the care of son Archie Battersbee, who is currently fighting for his life at Royal London Hospital, need to give the 12-year-old more treatment before a decision can be taken over whether to stop life-support.

A hearing at the High Court in London last week heard arguments from the hospital’s governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, which said Archie was unlikely to ever regain consciousness.

But with another hearing taking place on Thursday which will hear further arguments from both sides, Ms Dance said her family needed to be given time to find out which treatment was right for her son moving forward including potential solutions abroad.

Echo: Archie is receiving treatment at the Royal London HospitalArchie is receiving treatment at the Royal London Hospital

She said: “We need more time to gather evidence and to find anyone across the world who is prepared to help Archie and give him any hope.

“Once I can see for myself which way he’s going then fair enough but at the moment it’s just too early days.”

She added: “Even if there’s a tiny bit of hope, I will try. If scientists say they have something which they won’t bring out for another five years I’m more than happy to try that. If you want to use him as a guinea pig and offering one per cent hope, I will take it.”

A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust said: “This is an incredibly sad case and our thoughts and sympathies are with Archie and his family at this time.

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“We await the decision on the case to be decided by the courts.”

Ms Dance also said police were now searching through her son’s mobile phone and Xbox after she raised concerns an online challenge could have caused her son’s accident due to ligature being found around his head.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force was looking into what caused Archie’s injuries.

They said: “We have been carrying out enquiries to establish the circumstances which led up to this incident and these are ongoing.”