A grieving British couple have called for answers following the death of their infant son, who passed away shortly after being discharged from hospital with a ‘cough and cold’.

 

Ria Hester and Richard Hempsall rushed to A&E with their eight-week-old son Maximus after he began struggling for breath, but they were told that there was nothing serious wrong with him and to take him home. The following morning, the tot had stopped breathing, and attempts to resuscitate him sadly failed.

 

Baby Maximus was born premature at 29 weeks, weighing just 2lb 9oz, at Wythenshawe Hospital. After receiving treatment at the hospital for six weeks the tot was sent home, however just two weeks later he stopped feeding and appeared to have difficulty breathing.

 

Ms Hester told the Manchester Evening News that she and her partner wasted no time in bringing their little one to Accident and Emergency at the same hospital and, after waiting for four hours, they finally got to see a doctor.

 

After examination, the parents were informed that Maximus merely had a ‘cough and cold’, and that he was well enough to be taken home.

 

 

When Ms Hester got up the following morning, she found that her son had stopped breathing. She contacted emergency services, who walked her through the stages of CPR.

 

She told the newspaper: “Richard starting doing CPR. I was really scared. They were telling me what to do over the phone and I was shouting it out to him. The ambulance arrived about four minutes later and took him straight to hospital.”

 

“They tried to save him for 45 minutes but they said there was nothing else they could do,” she added.

 

While the couple are currently awaiting biopsy results, they have been told that Maximus died from either pneumonia or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

 

Now, the couple have demanded answers as to why their precious son wasn’t kept in overnight during their trip to A&E, and why doctors didn’t pick up on what was wrong with him where possible.

 

Internal and external investigations into the incident have been launched, and we will keep you updated as more information emerges.

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