A tot who died following a “medical episode” at nursery has been praised as a “beautiful and caring boy”. Jude Gerrard was taken to hospital on Tuesday, January 14 following the incident at Early Learners Day Nursery, on Hawthorne Road, Bootle at around 12.35pm.
Tragically his life could not be saved and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Merseyside Police have now released a statement on behalf of his family which they said they were continuing to support with specially trained officers.
A police spokesman said: “Jude’s death is currently being treated as unexplained and inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of the incident. A postmortem has been conducted, but the cause of death withheld pending further reports.”
Now his parents have paid tribute to their son saying: “This is our sweet baby boy, Jude Gerrard. We are absolutely heartbroken and devastated beyond words by this shocking and unexpected loss of the love of our lives.
“I know all parents think this about their own children, but Jude truly was so incredibly special. Everybody who ever met him couldn’t help but instantly love him, and he had so much love for everyone too, even if he’d pretend to web you like Spider-Man or wrestle you like Hulk Hogan.
“Our lives will never be the same again, he really was too good to be true and we can’t believe he has been taken away from us like this, with something so preventable. He deserved so, so much more.
“We count ourselves so lucky we got to be his mummy and daddy for two and a half years, even though he should have had so much more time. Please respect our privacy as we process and grieve this unimaginable loss and the police continue to investigate what happened to our amazing, beautiful, caring boy, Judie.”
Speaking last week following the incident Merseyside Police said in a statement: ” “We can confirm that an investigation is under way following reports that a two-year-old boy suffered a fatal medical episode at a children’s nursery in Bootle. The incident was reported at around 12.35pm yesterday, Tuesday 14 January, at Early Learners Day Nursery, on Hawthorne Road, and the child was taken to hospital by paramedics.
“He was sadly pronounced deceased at hospital and his family is being supported. An investigation has been commenced to establish the full circumstances and cause of death.”