Devastated parents of a four-month-old boy say they were told to 'calm down' as they begged for him to be moved to another hospital moments before he died. Michael Gallagher was born prematurely at 27 weeks on May 24, along with his twin sister Angel, yet he had developed well in the months that followed and weighed almost 20lb less than five months later.
He was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital in October after struggling with his breathing, and medics found he was suffering with bronchiolitis, just nine days after last being in hospital with the same infection. His parents say there was a 'plan A, B and C' prepared by the medics on shift - with Michael to be moved to the Oxford Road hospitals if his condition worsened.
But his grieving parents Susanna and Jimmy Gallagher say that after staff changeover for the night shift, the plan changed, with Michael kept in while his blood gas levels became increasingly worrying. They recall an on-call consultant being brought in 'for peace of mind' in the early hours of the morning - before moments later, their little boy died.
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"He was fighting and fighting and fighting," mum Susanna, 32, told the Manchester Evening News . "He suffered a bad death and there was nothing I could do, they wouldn't listen to me.
"I believe if my child had been moved to Oxford Road he would be alive. They would have intubated him, they would have given him rest on his little body, given him a little bit of a chance."
Following his birth, Michael spent time at the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at St Mary's Hospital, at Oxford Road, before being moved to Wythenshawe Hospital's NICU, which is closer to the family's home in Wythenshawe. While his tiny sister needed extra medical care in her first months of life, Michael was able to leave Wythenshawe NICU on September 1, gaining 330g a week and with no underlying health issues.
But later that month, Michael began 'working hard' on his breathing. He was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital, where medics saw he was struggling with bronchiolitis.
Susanna says she was worried about how it could affect Michael with him being premature and doctors tried to reassure her, but after Michael appeared 'blue' he was given oxygen. Michael spent time at the hospital's high dependency unit (HDU), before being kept in at the Starlight children's unit for a few days.
He was allowed to go home, but brought back into the hospital later that day with his parents still concerned, and Michael was given a nebuliser and kept in. In October, Michael's parents say he was given a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination, at a time they were still concerned about his health.
Michael returned to Wythenshawe Hospital a few days later, where he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis again. Susanna said: "They said, don't worry, it's the start of bronchiolitis, and you're in the right place. It's probably going to get worse, but you're here."
Michael was admitted to hospital in the afternoon and by 6pm his breathing was getting worse. His parents say that by 7pm, a plan was in place to transfer Michael from Wythenshawe Hospital to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, at Oxford Road, should his condition deteriorate further.
"Everything was under control," said Susanna. "They had plan B and plan C, when we were still on plan A."
But the family say those plans went out of the window after staff changeover for the night shift. Michael had his blood gas levels continuously checked, rising from the normal levels of around 7 to 8.7, then 9.2 and 10 as the evening went on.
At each stage, Michael's parents say they pleaded with medics for their son to be intubated, and for Michael to be moved to Oxford Road. Susanna says she twice asked a nurse 'can children die from bronchiolitis?' before receiving the reply: "I don't want to answer that question."
Michael's parents say their son was given the sedative chloral hydrate and were asked to put white noise on. They say they had been able to see the little boy, wrapped 'tightly' in a blanket, 'ripping the mask off his face' as he tried to breathe - while mucus had to be brought out from him.
Having been called out for a second opinion, an on-call consultant arrived at Wythenshawe Hospital in the early hours of the morning. Susanna says that by this time, she was 'hysterical' screaming that she wanted Michael moved to Oxford Road - only to be told: "Listen to me... it's bronchiolitis, calm down."
Moments later, her world turned upside down. She added: "I was looking at Michael and I could see his body moving. I was pointing at him and going 'look!'.
"In 10 to 15 seconds tops she just ripped the blanket off him and they all started working on him." The couple, who watched on as medics scrambled to try and save their son in chaotic scenes for 47 minutes, say Michael suffered a cardiac arrest following respiratory arrest and had appeared 'blue'.
Susanna added: "I was screaming. My son had just passed away. I couldn't believe it because I couldn't have made it clearer all night - he needs to be moved to Oxford Road."
In a cruel twist for the family, Michael was eventually taken to the Oxford Road campus for his autopsy, hours after their desperate pleas for him to be taken there before his death. His twin sister Angel has since had to attend the hospital her parents pleaded with medics to take Michael.
"There was a queue of doctors waiting to see her," said Susanna. "When we went to [PICU] with Angel, all we saw were babies with all the tubes for breathing problems.
"We sat there and I felt guilty, I felt really bad because why didn't I bring him there? I only brought him to Wythenshawe because they gave me open access to the ward."
She added: "Everything was under control. It was just when changeover happened, it went all downhill. To be working on our son and not even take us out of the room, it's very traumatising."
A spokesman for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would again wish to offer our sincere condolences to the family of Michael for their loss. We would welcome their involvement in our investigation into the circumstances around his death.
"An inquest will also be held, so we will be unable to comment further until that has concluded.”
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