On Sunday, family, friends and locals gathered at Priory Park in Southend-on-Sea to remember the 12-year-old, who died on August 6 after a long court battle over his life care. “These are people from his hometown, I actually didn’t expect so many people to be here,” Ms Dance told ITV News at the vigil. “Just people coming up to say they’ve followed Archie from the beginning and his journey … it’s really touching.” Archie Battersbee on life support The vigil had a purple theme – tributes to Archie were tied to a tree with violet ribbons, while some attendees wore purple Archie’s Army T-shirts. One person lit a purple flare, holding it in the air as a sign of respect. Children played with bubbles as music played from the speakers in the background. Mrs. Dance wiped the tears from her eyes as a bunch of purple balloons were released into the sky. Crowds release purple balloons into the sky in Archie’s memory. Addressing the crowd, Archie’s mother thanked them for their support. “Thank you so much for supporting us while we were in this awful place,” he said. “I hope you all stand with me in trying to change this law, Archie Army, so no more of our children and their parents go through this.” Asked how she would like her son to be remembered, she said: “For the fun little boy he was. He’s just an energetic, very athletic, very talented little boy.” She had found Archie unconscious in their home with a ligature over his head on April 7. Along with Archie’s father, Mrs Dance fought a long legal battle to withdraw Archie’s treatment and made bids to the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the European Court of Human Rights to have him transferred to a hospice to die. However, a judge ruled that it was not in Archie’s best interests to be moved to a hospice. Instead, he died at the Royal London Hospital. Want a quick and special update on the biggest news? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out what you need to know
