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March 28, 2024, 06:57:01 PM

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ONLINE CHALLENGES ATE MY HAMSTER

Started by touchingcloth, August 05, 2022, 05:51:18 PM

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touchingcloth

This Archie Battersbee story is weird, right? Every article I see mentions that the kid was found "unconscious at home with catastrophic brain injuries", and that his mother "believes he may have been taking part in an online challenge".

They never say what this supposed challenge actually is, so is this the BBC trying to stir up some moral panic about how the kids are all getting their cerebella fucked at rainbow parties, or is there some actual challenge doing the rounds and they're not wanting to be accused of drawing attention to it?

I'm off to chuck a bucket of cinnamon on my Mentos now.

Video Game Fan 2000

Trying to no hack Superman 64 or watching a Philosophy Tube video all the way to the end.

imitationleather

There was no online challenge and the news should stop even entertaining the idea. Poor kid was most likely trying to commit suicide.

H-O-W-L

Quote from: imitationleather on August 05, 2022, 06:01:37 PMThere was no online challenge and the news should stop even entertaining the idea. Poor kid was most likely trying to commit suicide.

Aye all indications is the kid had suicidal ideations and was depressed from what I've seen. He's also effectively completely medically dead now -- no autonomous respiration, barely any metabolic activity...

Alberon

From the Daily Hate Mail

QuoteHis mother Hollie believes her son may have been trying the so - called 'blackout' challenge shortly before he was found unconscious, although there has never been any evidence that Archie saw the challenge on TikTok. This insanely dangerous online craze encourages users to choke themselves until they reach the point of losing consciousness. When Archie's mother found him, the budding gymnast had a cord wrapped around his neck.

TikTok says this was never a trend on its platform and it 'removes any contact that promotes dangerous behaviour that could cause harm'.

No one really knows so lets blame the internet, basically.

shoulders

Whenever there's a 'we won't let the doctors switch OUR child off the life computer' every few years I'm always firmly 'PULL THE PLUG AND TELL THE DISTRESSED PARENTS TO FACE THE FUCKING FACTS' but were I in their position...

... I don't know how I'd react. It would be horrible to think I'd try and turn the medical community into an adversary, or that I would deny the clear evidence presented. But while they are technically respiring on Earth it'd be incredibly hard to let go in such a decisive, brutal way. I expect even more difficult with someone you've brought up who has their whole life ahead of them, about to become a proper person and that.

Finding out that my flesh and blood supported the Tories might swing it though. Might even press the button myself.


H-O-W-L

Quote from: shoulders on August 05, 2022, 06:47:20 PMWhenever there's a 'we won't let the doctors switch OUR child off the life computer' every few years I'm always firmly 'PULL THE PLUG AND TELL THE DISTRESSED PARENTS TO FACE THE FUCKING FACTS' but were I in their position...

... I don't know how I'd react. It would be horrible to think I'd try and turn the medical community into an adversary, or that I would deny the clear evidence presented. But while they are technically respiring on Earth it'd be incredibly hard to let go in such a decisive, brutal way.

Finding out that my flesh and blood supported the Tories might swing it though. Might even press the button myself.



The court records show that they were drawing necrotic fluids from Archie a few months ago and his metabolic activity has all but stopped, which is usually a sign that the machines aren't even sustaining life there, more like creating an artificial semblance of it. The lights aren't even on, and there isn't even a home. They have to give him new blood because his body cannot produce or replace it anymore. His digestion has all but stopped. He's not in a PVS or a coma. He is neurologically dead. Everything above the neck is basically gone. He does not respirate on his own. He does not gag on his own. There is no cranio-nervous activity.

It sounds callous as fuck but there isn't a person in that body anymore. The body is no longer a person, it's a corpse being kept in a frankly ghastly equivalence of freshness as it continues to organically shut down and decay and collapse under entropy. Archie died when he hanged himself. Some of her accounts say that he was hanging for 40 minutes which means he was definitely long dead by the time she found him. Other accounts say 5-10 minutes which still put his chances of being dead at that moment in the high nineties.

At this point, letting him go is the better thing for everyone involved. Even excluding the holier-than-thou "that bed can go to better people" take... I wouldn't want my loved ones being kept alive like some twisted cyberman science experiment. Tubed and hosed and plumbed just to keep a semblance of artificial heartbeat there. It makes me shudder to think about.

I feel there comes a point when all you're doing is standing on the edge of their grave, looking down and following them into it, on the slow path.

imitationleather

My parents definitely wouldn't keep me alive unless they had to.

Sebastian Cobb

I got an arguably worse online challenge the other day.


Gurke and Hare

I can't get too angry at the parents, but everyone from Christian Concern can die in a big fire as far as I'm concerned.

Zero Gravitas

Quote from: H-O-W-L on August 05, 2022, 06:49:00 PMTubed and hosed and plumbed just to keep a semblance of artificial heartbeat there. It makes me shudder to think about.



Are doctors not allowed to shake people vigorously by the shoulders or slap them anymore?

imitationleather

Quote from: Zero Gravitas on August 05, 2022, 07:46:51 PMAre doctors not allowed to shake people vigorously by the shoulders or slap them anymore?

They're only allowed to do that to the nurses.

Flouncer

In an interview on This Morning, his mum admits that Archie suffered from anxiety and that he'd been to the school nurse "a few times" with anxiety and panic attacks, but says she thought he was trying to get out of school, and when she reassured him he went back to his classes "totally fine." It's pretty clear that he was suffering with his mental health: for a young lad to repeatedly seek help for it you'd imagine things must have been pretty bad for him, and his mum, by her own admission, failed to take it seriously. I think this whole thing is her trying to avoid taking responsibility for failing him in this respect - the online challenge explanation is a convenient out, and the denial that he's gone and subsequent battle against the hospital/legal system is giving her something external to kick against and blame his eventual death on.

The family also have the usual 'sanctity of life' ghouls blowing smoke up their arses and the media humouring them, which isn't helping matters. Some of the stuff they're coming out with is laughable: claiming that there are treatments in other countries - the lad is brain dead! They keep going on about his dignity when as HOWL says he's basically a corpse at this point, and they're the ones insisting on keeping him going in this fashion. It kind of annoyed me that they said he can't die with dignity in a busy hospital so he needs moving to a hospice (which at least is some way towards facing up to the fact that he's gone) - what they mean by that is, they've made such a fucking nuisance of themselves to the hospital staff that they don't feel comfortable there any more, so they want to take him elsewhere to say goodbye to him. It's nothing at all to do with his dignity. This is even more of a pisstake when you realise that they'd tried to stop him being given an MRI scan earlier in the saga on the grounds that it was too risky to move him.

touchingcloth

Quote from: shoulders on August 05, 2022, 06:47:20 PMWhenever there's a 'we won't let the doctors switch OUR child off the life computer' every few years I'm always firmly 'PULL THE PLUG AND TELL THE DISTRESSED PARENTS TO FACE THE FUCKING FACTS' but were I in their position...

... I don't know how I'd react. It would be horrible to think I'd try and turn the medical community into an adversary, or that I would deny the clear evidence presented. But while they are technically respiring on Earth it'd be incredibly hard to let go in such a decisive, brutal way. I expect even more difficult with someone you've brought up who has their whole life ahead of them, about to become a proper person and that.

Finding out that my flesh and blood supported the Tories might swing it though. Might even press the button myself.

I've read enough about people in persistent vegetative states that I'd like to think that were I in their position that I'd behave more like Terri Schiavo's husband than her parents, and would urge them to pull the plug rather than maintain a vegetable, but it's difficult to know. I'm pro-dignity in end of life care and have always thought that doctors should have more leeway in administering euthanasia. Hospitals already play this faux-naïf game where they'll slip your loved ones a larger-than-therapeutic dose of morphine with a nod and a wink and a comment about making dad more comfortable, but it's the vegetables and the unborn where people start pretending to care about the sanctity of life.

Alberon

Pro-dignity is the only sensible way.

The parents are clearly just avoiding reality and responsibility in the most vocal way possible.

The one positive in all this shitshow is at least Archie is dead and not suffering in any way.

Me and my wife have been in sort of the same situation. Eight months into her pregnancy we found out our son wouldn't survive. We were dealt with carefully and firmly and while it was utterly devastating we stayed attached to reality.

Most do. The number of parents who just refuse to accept the real facts are fortunately rare. The ones that do tend to make a lot of noise and the Christian leeches that attach themselves to them just make things worse.

Psybro

Remember Momo?  What were all that about eh?

idunnosomename

Quote from: Gurke and Hare on August 05, 2022, 07:42:20 PMI can't get too angry at the parents, but everyone from Christian Concern can die in a big fire as far as I'm concerned.
I think this is the point. it's an utter tragedy being exploiting by ghouls. to be fair, I've only seen this by twitter trends, not much on BBC news. in case I missed anything, has it been on major newspaper front page?

the mother seems to have pushed him as a gymnast and MMA fighter. hence why there's some pics where he has a six-pack and posing with his shirt off - as a fucking 10-year-old. doesn't seem a big leap why he'd have a suicide attempt. and now he's a decomposing corpse that can't even make his own blood anymore in an intensive care bed. it's absolutely fucking awful

i just think this is a symptom of aspirational tory britain. the idea anyone can be a celeb if they grind. or grind their kids. and also no one believes in death anymore. and the whole Goveian "had enough of experts" mindset

idunnosomename

Quote from: Alberon on August 05, 2022, 08:47:38 PMMe and my wife have been in sort of the same situation. Eight months into her pregnancy we found out our son wouldn't survive. We were dealt with carefully and firmly and while it was utterly devastating we stayed attached to reality.

Most do. The number of parents who just refuse to accept the real facts are fortunately rare. The ones that do tend to make a lot of noise and the Christian leeches that attach themselves to them just make things worse.
my most genuine condolences on this as a random on the internet. indeed it must be absolutely devastating

imitationleather

How do you even get a six pack as a 10 year old?

When I was that age the only six pack I had was one of Holsten Pils every Friday night!!

imitationleather

Quote from: idunnosomename on August 05, 2022, 10:22:06 PMmy most genuine condolences on this as a random on the internet. indeed it must be absolutely devastating

Also I'd like to echo this. My mum's best friend had a still-birth when I was a kid and it's only now I'm an adult I can begin to get my head around what that must have been like.

idunnosomename

I had a cousin who was born premature and almost pulled through but sadly didn't make it. But. Death is real, it happens to everyone ever at some point, and I think too many people have difficulty coping with this reality.

But the conservative Christian outfit running this legal grift aren't anymore Christian than ISIS are Muslim. it's just sick.

Indomitable Spirit

The mum seems a bit... off. Don't you think?

And not in a "grief effects people in different ways" way.

More in a "running three gofundmes to raise money for legal help she gets for free / keeps changing the story about how she found her son's body" way.


Alberon

Thanks for the messages. It happened nearly eight years ago, but something like that obviously changes you forever. He's buried only a hundred yards away from Terry Wogan.

That's not why we chose that spot though.

The fact that cases like this happen so rarely shows that most people, even in the pit of utter grief, can still make the rational decisions needed.

I'm going to try not to read too much into the actions of the parents, but it does seem clear something odd is going on here.

Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse

My dog passed in January. He was very old and he suffered a stroke, which didn't kill him, so we treated him for three weeks in the hopes he would recover. That last week, when his recovery had stalled and he was deteriorating, I called euthanasia "the hard thing" when I was telling family and friends. But it wasn't hard. Not if you'd seen the state of him at the end.

I know a child is different. You can get another pet. A child you can't replace. But his mother must see the state of him. She must know, in the rational part of her mind that continues to whisper through the anguish, that her son is gone and that she's participating in a horrorshow. I only hope she can make peace with doing the hard thing.

H-O-W-L

Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on August 06, 2022, 01:02:05 AMMy dog passed in January. He was very old and he suffered a stroke, which didn't kill him, so we treated him for three weeks in the hopes he would recover. That last week, when his recovery had stalled and he was deteriorating, I called euthanasia "the hard thing" when I was telling family and friends. But it wasn't hard. Not if you'd seen the state of him at the end.

I had a similar experience last year, though my dog was 14 years old and was already suffering from senility and confusion that was getting worse by the month, so it was a little easier for me to let him go. The vet believed he might've been able to survive a few more months if he had an operation to reduce the swelling in his brain, but I elected to have him put to sleep instead. It hit hard, but I put into perspective what would be kinder for him rather than for me -- him clinging on for a few more weeks in what would be confusion and emotional pain and probably tremendous mental damage; knowing something was horribly wrong and different with himself regardless of whether or not he was in actual pain. Or him slipping away into what would seem like sleep, silently, in my arms, beloved and warm and comfortable.

The latter sounded far better to me. By the point he was put down my beloved dog was, honestly, already gone. I wasn't at peace with it, nor was I ok with it, but it was there. And yeah, again, a dog's replacable to most people I guess. It's a pet, to most people. But I'd had the bugger for ten years of his life. He grew up with me. Wasn't easy to say goodbye to that. Still isn't easy to acknowledge he's gone. But it's better that things came to a close sooner rather than later, because the only person whose sakes he'd have stayed alive for if I'd elected to have him operated on (and it wasn't even a dead cert he'd even survive it anyway) was me. He was definitely clearly ready to go to me-- if he hadn't gone already, with how fucked up his eyes looked, the poor blighter.

And not that I'm throwing shade at you for trying to nurse your dog back to health, Poirot, mine had pre-existing neurological issues that made the stroke so devastating he couldn't even raise his head. It was catastrophic and irrevocable. The only option for even a few days more quality of life was surgery and it'd maybe have extended his life just past Christmas (this was October) and it was honestly not worth it IMO. Better he slipped away.

Dex Sawash


Shaky

It would be simple to check browser history and see if Archie had been playing this game or viewing related sites just before the incident. I suppose that would bring in a blast of reality the parents don't quite seem ready for.

Icehaven

Quote from: idunnosomename on August 05, 2022, 10:19:48 PMthe mother seems to have pushed him as a gymnast and MMA fighter. hence why there's some pics where he has a six-pack and posing with his shirt off - as a fucking 10-year-old. doesn't seem a big leap why he'd have a suicide attempt.

I've not been closely following this story but I've seen a few articles and one thing that struck me was how a lot of the accompanying pictures of him looked very posed, like modelling photoshoots. I know it's not completely out of the ordinary now but still, do 12 year old boys really do this by themselves or do their parents?

Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse

Quote from: H-O-W-L on August 06, 2022, 02:59:29 AMAnd not that I'm throwing shade at you for trying to nurse your dog back to health, Poirot, mine had pre-existing neurological issues that made the stroke so devastating he couldn't even raise his head. It was catastrophic and irrevocable. The only option for even a few days more quality of life was surgery and it'd maybe have extended his life just past Christmas (this was October) and it was honestly not worth it IMO. Better he slipped away.
Sorry to hear about your boy, H-O-W-L. And I know you're not throwing shade - my pupper was alert and eating/drinking, he just couldn't stand or walk. Everything I did was at the vet's advice and I feel like we did everything possible without drawing things out too long. The rational voice was there from day one, telling me that if he pulled through and had a second stroke we'd just let him go on the second one.

JaDanketies

as a parent, this is fucking grotesque and inexcusable. How many millions of parents lose a kid without squirting tonnes of donated blood over their corpse. I cannot emphasise with her at this point. It's obscene. Disrespectful to his body. I'm happy blaming this Christian cult for her mindset, but not her status as a parent. Other parents would like to distance themselves. Makes me feel sick to think of allowing my son to decompose above-ground. 

We turned off the machines for my dad, I accept it's different for a parent, but dad was also far less dead than Archie at the time, breathing and everything. He just said he "always wanted to be able to wipe his own arse." Even bringing someone back when they're immobile and unthinking just so you can say hello is arguably a right shit thing to do