A mother has shared her heartbreak after the death of her baby boy, claiming she and her partner were dismissed as “over-anxious parents being fussy” before their young son tragically passed away. Freddie Beaumont, a “very happy, smiley little boy”, collapsed and died just three days after being discharged from hospital.
The devastating incident occurred at the family’s home in Worsley, Salford, merely three weeks shy of Freddie’s first birthday. An inquest revealed that Freddie was rushed to hospital following a cardiac arrest but sadly did not survive.
Just three days prior, he had been referred to Salford Royal Hospital’s paediatric department, only to be sent home a few hours later. On Monday, February 24, it was reported that a doctor had diagnosed him with bronchiolitis, a common lung infection.
However, a post-mortem examination conducted after his death discovered that Freddie had been suffering from a form of Strep A infection. Freddie’s mother, Aimee Beaumont, expressed her frustration to Bolton Coroner’s Court, insisting that during their initial visit to Salford Royal, his “symptoms were not taken seriously” despite clear indications that “it was clear things weren’t right.”, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Ms Beaumont provided evidence at the inquest, recounting how Freddie had previously been hospitalised with bronchiolitis in May 2022. He was treated with antibiotics and received follow-up care from nurses.
She noted that his chest sounded “quite crackly, quite often” and was a “constant concern”. The court heard that Freddie first showed signs of illness after attending nursery on Friday, November 18, 2022.
Mrs Beaumont recounted that Freddie’s temperature had risen, he was congested, and his breathing sounded unusually laboured. She promptly took him to the Leigh Walk-In Centre the next morning.
However, upon arrival, the medical staff informed them that they were not accepting “chest-related cases” due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, they scheduled a telephone consultation with the out-of-hours GP service.
During this call, the practitioner recommended that Freddie be taken to Salford Royal for a thorough examination and booked an appointment with a GP based at the hospital. In the subsequent consultation, the doctor noted Freddie’s “grunting” and explained that this could be a sign of laboured breathing, according to Mrs Beaumont.
Consequently, Freddie was referred to the hospital’s paediatric unit, known as the Panda Unit. Mrs Beaumont expressed that while on the unit, she and her husband felt dismissed as “over-anxious parents being fussy when we should have been a bit more relaxed.”
In an attempt to alleviate Freddie’s discomfort, his parents administered Ibuprofen while waiting, which seemed to improve his condition slightly by the time he was seen on the Panda unit. Mrs Beaumont emphasised: “He was a very happy, smiley little boy.
“I did try to explain he will smile at you now, but he’s not right. His chest was a lot worse than we had ever heard it. And his up-and-down periods were a lot more dramatic than they had been before.”
Before being sent home, Freddie was examined by paediatric consultant Dr Raja Syahanee. Mrs Beaumont stated that the doctor had diagnosed him with “standard bronchiolitis” and reassured them it was “nothing out of the ordinary.”
Mrs Beaumont continued: “She made out as if we were being a bit over-anxious about something that is quite common. He had had it before, and I said it was a lot worse. We wanted some antibiotics or something that may help him feel a bit better, when we knew it was quite a serious case. We didn’t think that was being taken seriously.”
The inquest heard that no blood test was performed. The family “didn’t think he should have been discharged” and instead “should have been kept in for observation and possibly oxygen”, she explained. They were left feeling “a bit panicked” by the decision to discharge them, the jury was informed.
She added: “As parents, you are always told you know your child best. He was worse than he had been with Bronchiolitis in the past, and the doctor had mentioned he had heard the grunting, and it wasn’t taken seriously.”
When asked about Dr Syahanee’s reaction to their concerns about Freddie’s “grunting”, Mrs Beaumont said: “There wasn’t really any reaction. I think her mind was already made up with that it was bronchiolitis.”
She also noted that they weren’t given any “safety netting advice”. She said: “The only thing we were told was in reference to Calpol.” She also added that they were advised to administer Calpol only as a “last resort” and if his temperature exceeded 40 degrees.
In the hours following his discharge, he “didn’t seem himself” and was “just off”, Mrs Beaumont said. She said they gave him Calpol, and he slept that night but it was “very disturbed” which”was not like him as he was a very good sleeper.”
The next day saw him attending another child’s birthday party where his condition appeared “up and down”.. There was a brief moment of optimism when they thought he “might be over the worst of it”, Mrs Beaumont recalled.
However, the hope was short-lived as he woke the next morning and still “didn’t seem right”. Consequently, they decided against sending him to nursery and his father stayed home to care for him and he was notably “unsettled” with “noisy breathing” while sleeping.
On Tuesday, November 22, Mrs Beaumont shared that around 9.30am, there was some stirring, but it was not until she attempted to wake him for a feed at about 11.30am that she noticed his pallor and observed his “eyes began rolling in his head”, prompting her to think he might be choking.
In a panic, she dialled 999, and while on the call, the dire situation escalated as he stopped breathing, leading her to perform paediatric CPR until emergency services took over.
Despite being swiftly taken to Salford Royal and undergoing intense resuscitation efforts, the young boy was declared deceased at 12.51pm. Dr Melanie Newbould conducted a post-mortem examination, which showed that his untimely passing was due to acute empyema and pneumonia caused by Group A hemolytic Streptococcus.
Mrs Beaumont expressed the need for clarity, indicating they “wanted to know why Freddie died”. She highlighted the key issues they hope will be addressed during the inquest, which include “further tests, the prescription of antibiotics, monitoring and whether he should have been kept in hospital in all the circumstances.”