Zoe Warner-Simpson faced “every parent’s worst nightmare” as she returned from fetching her son’s pyjamas to find him face down in the bath, a coroner has said today.
The 29-year-old mother of three had left her son, Edward, playing in the bath with his four-year-old brother for “literally two minutes” while she grabbed his pyjamas from the bedroom, and returned to find him lifeless.
The toddler was rushed to Milton Keynes Hospital immediately.
However, just days later his parents turned off Edward’s life support as the oxygen starvation left him with irreparable brain damage.
“On April 17 his machines were turned off. Our amazing strong boy still tried to fight and continued to breath for some time after,” Edward’s father, Andrew said at the inquest.
“We spent this time holding him in our arms until his last breath and for some time after.
“We miss him every second of the day. We will never stop missing you little boy and I will always make sure you are in the thoughts of many.”
Coroner Tom Osborne ruled the toddler’s death as simply a tragedy and said there were no suspicious circumstances.
“I’m sure it is every parent’s worst nightmare. They left the children for literally two minutes to get pyjamas. On their return, the youngest child was face down in the bath,” said Osborne.
“I pass on my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family. Bath time with children is something that’s acted out hundreds of thousands of times every day.”
