He suffered severe brain damage that left him in a persistent vegetative state as a consequence of which the hospital, with the support of his parents, applied for a court order allowing him to "die with dignity".
As a result, he became the first patient in English legal history to be allowed to die by the courts through the withdrawal of life-prolonging treatment including food and water for the injuries.
Although Bland survived the initial crush, he had suffered severe brain damage and eventually became the disaster's 96th victim on 3 March 1993, aged 22, after being in a coma for nearly four years.
As a result, he sustained catastrophic and irreversible damage to the higher centres of the brain, which had left him in a persistent vegetative state (PVS).
Several attempts were made by Howe and his team, along with Bland's father, sister and mother, to try to elicit some response from him and for some signs of interaction.
During the trial, the defence provided evidence that the child was not physically healthy, resulting in a reduced charge of attempted murder, for which Arthur was acquitted.
In August 1989, four months after Bland was injured, Howe contacted Popper, the Sheffield coroner, who was both legally and medically qualified.
He made it clear that he "... could not countenance, condone, approve or give consent to any action or inaction which could be or could not be construed as being designed or intended to shorten or terminate the life of this young man.
He requested a reply by return indicating that I had understood his opinion, and whether I would withdraw treatment.The Coroner advised Howe to contact his medical defence society and the Regional Health Authority, and copied his letter to the Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police (the investigating force), the local regional Health Authority solicitor, and Howe's medical defence society.
Following the obtaining of the legal advice, which concurred with that of the coroner, the Airedale National Health Service Trust - with the support of Bland's family and Howe - made an application to court to withdraw all life-prolonging treatment.
As Bland was unable to speak for himself and was, for legal purposes, deemed an incompetent, the Official Solicitor was assigned as his guardian ad litem.
Professor Jennett expressed the view that it would be in accordance with good medical practice in the case of Anthony Bland to withdraw the nasogastric artificial feeding.
Further the prospect of improvement can also confidently be answered since based on what we know of the degree of damage to his brain, the comparison of his case with those recorded in the literature (particularly considering the nature of his damage and the duration of his illness) and the type of systems and signs he exhibits, there is no hint or hope or any prospect of improvement.On 21 December 1993, Bradford coroner James Turnbull recorded a verdict of accidental death on Tony Bland.
[7] In the aftermath of Bland's death, a priest and anti-abortion campaigner, James Morrow, started a legal challenge to have the doctor who withdrew his treatment charged with murder, but this was rejected by the High Court in April 1994.
A long-time critic of the Bland case, Dr Jacqueline Laing argues that the implications of the judicial decision deserve revisiting given recent Freedom of Information Act requests revealing financial incentives and staggering compliance[9] in rolling out the 2008 NHS End-Of-Life Care strategy.
The other was 22-year-old Andrew Devine, from the Liverpool area, who also suffered massive brain damage as a result of being deprived of oxygen due to crush injuries.
[12] Devine died in July 2021, 32 years after the disaster, with Liverpool coroner Andre Rebello recording a verdict of unlawful killing, making him the 97th victim.