Our baby died at nursery after choking on food… he could so easily have been saved & we don’t want it to happen again
A HEARTBROKEN couple whose nine-month-old baby died at nursery claim he should have been saved.
Oliver Steeper died of a brain injury and heart attack six days after choking on food at Jelly Beans Day Nursery in Ashford, , in September 2021.
He was placed on life support at Evelina Children’s Hospital in London but tragically passed away.
Since then, parents Lewis, 39, and Zoe, 34, have had another son - seven-month-old Jake.
The brave parents have also launched the Oliver Steeper Foundation to give nurseries free LifeVac tools.
Costing £60 to £80, the device works by sucking the obstruction out using a handle attached to an airtight mask.
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And Lewis believes son Oliver would be alive today if staff had a LifeVac device - with its makers claiming it has already helped to save 1,232 lives.
Lewis, a lorry driver, told the : “It’s such a simple device but incredibly effective. No power is needed – it’s just one simple hand movement.
“We didn’t know it even existed until we received a message from LifeVac on Facebook shortly after Oliver passed away. It’s blossomed into such a great relationship with the team.
“Our mission is to make sure every nursery and childminder in the UK has a LifeVac."
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And he said that once that was achieved, the couple will be looking at supplying them to schools, care homes and restaurants.
He continued: "We want to cover the whole of the UK, because anywhere there’s a human, there’s a risk of choking.
“We truly believe that if every nursery had one, then Oliver would still be here.”
The LifeVac devices sent to nurseries will each have a sticker with Oliver’s name and photo on to say it was “lovingly donated in his memory”.
Lewis said: “We wanted to do something to keep Oliver’s spirit alive. This is something we’ve been hoping to do for a while but we had to hold back on it because it hadn’t been approved for paediatric use."
But Lewis said since the device got the go-ahead, people have questioned why they don’t already have them everywhere.
The dad claims they have already had nurseries flocking to them as it provides peace of mind for both the staff and the parents.
And Lewis says that the handy device is designed as a "last resort for when first aid can’t be performed".
The couple have previously said they are grateful for "another chance" at parenthood but remain determined in their campaign against relaxing teacher-child ratios in nurseries.
Lewis said: "After losing Oliver in an early years setting, we feel it's our duty now to protect other children from people who are trying to overhaul the sector.
"These are members of parliament who will never put their own children into a local nursery because of their wealth and privileges; who simply don't live in the real world the rest of us do and don't bat an eyelid at the cost of childcare."
Ofsted suspended Jelly Beans Day Nursery’s registration immediately after Oliver’s death and the nursery has since closed completely.
Parents were told the owner had shut it voluntarily.
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Cops launched an investigation but the CPS concluded there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution.
A full inquest is yet to be held.
