Our eight-week-old son died without seeing his first Xmas after medics sent him home from hospital twice with a LEAFLET
AN eight-week-old toddler has died after he was sent home twice from hospital with just a leaflet in the days before his death.
Dad Liam Hayes, 21, and mum Anya, 19, said their newborn son Tommy was rushed to Torbay Hospital by medics twice before he died at home on November 21, having failed to wake up from his morning nap.
Devastated Liam, who works for Screwfix in Torquay, told : "He was my first born son and I cannot even spend that first Christmas with him.
"He was taken in to hospital by paramedics twice and the hospital sent him home both times when he fell asleep."
Liam added: "They should have kept him in longer and woken him up. He wasn't given any medication, or an inhaler or oxygen - all we had was just a leaflet."
The couple live in a flat near to The Dolphin pub in St Marychurch, Devon, and nurse Hayley Baker, whose husband runs the pub, was one of the first people on the scene.
She and Anya’s mum attempted to give CPR to the toddler before the paramedics arrived.
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Mrs Baker said: ";The paramedics tried for a very long time. It was the most brutal, horrible situation."
Anya found Tommy asleep in his crib at 11.30am on Sunday morning.
Liam said the police had been asking them endless questions in the search for answers but he added they had “not heard anything from the hospital or had an apology.”
The couple, who also have a 16-month old daughter called Bonnie, said Tommy had been born at a healthy 6lb 13oz but he first became ill with a cold the week before he died.
They say they phoned 111 twice in the past few days as Tommy was struggling to breathe.
Liam said: "Anya noticed that when he was breathing it was like he was trying to take multiple breaths at once.
"On one occasion I was at work and she took a video of it and sent it to me."
RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
Tommy was rushed to Torbay Hospital by paramedics on November 15, with Liam saying the paediatrician had diagnosed he had Bronchiolitis and luckily it had been caught early enough.
Liam said though Tommy had fallen asleep and they sent him and Anya back home but the medics promised that if his situation worsened they would give him oxygen.
Tommy’s health deteriorated on November 18 at around 8pm and Anya sent a video of him to Liam just as he was leaving work.
The couple decided to call 111 again.
Liam said: “He was wheezing really heavily and really quick.”
Once again paramedics rushed him to hospital along with Anya.
Tommy fell asleep on the way to hospital as the ambulance was queuing outside A&E.
Liam said: "Anya was talking to me on Snapchat. She was outside A&E for quite a while because there was a long queue of ambulances. Tommy fell asleep.
“When they got in they checked his breathing and could hear the wheezing. But because he was asleep his breathing wasn't as quick as when he was awake and Anya showed them the video of what it was like. But they sent him home in the early hours of the morning.”
Tommy had worked up at around 8am on Sunday morning, had a bottle and then fallen back to sleep.
A cousin was staying to look after Bonnie while Liam was out and Anya had gone to bed to get some sleep.
Liam said Anya had then woken up at about 11.30am and gone to see Tommy.
When she saw him she panicked and grabbed him to lay him on the bed and rub his tummy and also called her mum.
Liam said that when they called him “I could hear the paramedics giving him CPR in the background and then they took the phone and told me that they were so sorry but they had had to stop the CPR and there was nothing more they could do and Tommy had died."
Hayley Baker has set up a to help pay for Tommy’s funeral which has already raised over £4,500 in just a few days.
A spokesperson for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, told The Sun Online: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with Tommy’s family at this very difficult time. While we are unable to comment on individual cases, we investigate all unexpected deaths and we are looking into the care and treatment provided to Tommy.
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“We would also encourage Tommy's family to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service. Anyone who has concerns about the care and treatment they receive from our services can contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service so that we can investigate.
“Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service can be contacted by phone on 01803 655838, freephone on 0800 0282037 and by email on [email protected].”
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