Hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects to Archie Battersbee, the 12-year-old boy who was taken off life support after a long court battle.
A crowd gathered at the bandstand at Priory Park in Archie’s hometown of Southend, Essex, on Sunday with loving signs.
Cards and purple balloons – many later released into the sky – had messages written on them and were hung on a pine tree.
The messages included “a mother’s love”, with a photograph of Archie and his mother Hollie Dance.
Children attended and played with bubbles, and one attendee lit a purple flare as a sign of respect.
Ms. Dance addressed the crowd to thank them.
“Thank you so much, thank you so much for supporting us while we were in that horrible place,” he said.
“I hope you will all stand with me in trying to change this law, Archie’s Army, so that no more of our children and their parents go through this.”
Read more: A mother’s fight for her son: the Archie Battersbee case
Archie’s mother spoke to reporters earlier this evening, describing the last few months as “very hard”.
“It was a fight for my little boy’s life. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would fight just as hard,” he said.
“I will continue this fight. I have no intention of giving up, Archie wouldn’t want me to give up, he would definitely want me to keep going.
“Things have to change.”
Image: Archie Battersbee died earlier this month. Image: Hollie Dance
Archie died on August 6 at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, after a long legal battle.
The boy had been in a coma since April 7, when his mother found him unconscious at home.
Doctors treating him said he was “brain dead” and was only being kept alive by medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments.
His family had fought to continue life-supporting treatment in the hope that Archie would recover.