A GRIEVING Basingstoke mother who fought a legal battle for her terminally-ill teenage son to continue receiving treatment said he would still be alive today if doctors had not given up on him.

Alexander Elliott, who was 18 and had a brain tumour, died last Thursday – more than four months after a judge gave doctors at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust permission to withhold treatment.

Speaking to The Gazette from the family’s Kempshott home, Alexander’s mother Olya said: “He wanted to live, and that was what we as a family fought for. We had an absolutely horrendous experience at the hospital.”

The 43-year-old was told in February that Alex had just days left to live and that doctors would be stopping his treatment.

But the Elliotts took the matter to court and the case hit the headlines after Mrs Justice Hogg analysed evidence at a hearing in the Court of Protection, in London, and decided treatment could be withheld.

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Doctors said they feared that Alex had no more than two weeks to live and a neurosurgeon said active treatment was “futile”.

But Mr and Mrs Elliott disagreed, and asked Mrs Justice Hogg to allow chemotherapy to continue.

Mrs Elliott launched what Mrs Justice Hogg described as a ‘’passionate’’ fight at a late-night hearing which lasted more than eight hours.

Judges have been told at subsequent hearings in recent weeks that the teenager had remained alive and ‘’surpassed all expectations’’.

Mrs Elliott now plans to take the matter further, and said: “We can’t help Alex but we can help other children.”

She added: “I know that if the treatment had carried on he would still be here. He wanted to carry on and didn’t want to leave us. We did absolutely everything to make sure he enjoyed every moment of his life.”

Mrs Elliott said the decision to stop Alex’s treatment came as a complete shock, adding: “They said it was the end for him and they were going to stop treating him. We were shocked because at that stage we thought we would pull him through. They said they would stop treatment because it was terminal - that was a shock, we didn’t know that.”

Last year the same trust was involved in a separate dispute with the family of a sick five-year-old boy. The parents of Ashya King took the youngster from a hospital without doctors’ permission.

In September, a High Court judge gave Brett and Naghmeh King permission to take Ashya - who also had a brain tumour - to a clinic in Prague to receive treatment not available in England.

Mrs Elliott said: “I know exactly how his parents felt.”

She added: “It’s about the right to live and to choose, and the right of the parents to be informed. Parents have no power after the child turns 18.”

She described her battle to save her son’s life as “torture” adding: “I was told as a mother that I don’t know what’s best for him.”

Mrs Elliott, who also has a younger son, paid tribute to Queen Mary’s College pupil Alex, describing him as “very gifted and loving and very fair. He was strong and extremely sensitive.”

She said Alex enjoyed travelling and performing and was part of the Basingstoke based You Rock Music School, adding: “He was an exceptional child and the bond between us was extraordinary. He loved his family and the family loved him in a crazy way.”

She described Alex as a “very soft boy who wouldn’t hurt anyone but at the same time had inner strength and his own beliefs.”

A trust spokesman said: “Alex’s welfare remained our only concern and we are saddened at the suggestion that it had fallen by the wayside because this was never the case.

“Alex’s condition deteriorated steadily over the past four months, during which time staff within our palliative care, neurosurgical, oncological and many other services worked tirelessly to provide the best possible care for him and support for his family.

“We remained acutely aware of the strain on his parents throughout this time.”