Leaving a baby alone during baby bath time even for just a few minutes can be fatal. That is exactly what happened to baby Alex McCartney at his Lurgan home.
News Letter reports that the eight-month-old infant died of accidental drowning in the bath. The tragedy happened when the baby boy's mother Joanne Pedlow went downstairs for a few minutes during baby bath time.
The 33-year-old mother of three children went downstairs to switch on the kettle. While Joanne was in the kitchen, her brother Richard Pedlow and partner Nichola Barr entered the house with their child for a visit. They talked for a while and then heard Joanne's two-year-old daughter Lily -- who was also in the bath with Alex at the time -- crying upstairs.
Joanne, Richard and Barr quickly went upstairs to check on the kids and found baby Alex face down in the bath water. "I immediately put my two hands under him," Barr told News Letter. "His face looked grey and his lips were blue. I could see the blue bath seat floating in the bath."
The baby was seated in a baby bath seat with four suction cups attached to the surface of the bath before Joanne left him alone with his sister. "He was quite a big child and was quite heavy," Joanne explained via Parents.com. "I think he had leaned forward and toppled [the seat] over."
Barr laid the baby down, tilted his head and attempted to resuscitate the baby while Richard called 999 to receive emergency. After a few minutes, the ambulance arrived and took the baby to Craigavon Area Hospital and then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children. "He was pale, cold to the touch and wet," Paramedic Aidan Kelly told News Letter.
Alex was kept alive by life support at the hospital but died four days later. The hospital stated that Alex's brain suffered great injury due to being submerged in the water during baby bath time. Some of the baby's organs will be donated to help other children in need.
