Heartbroken Gemma Williams, 33, took 12-week-old Lexi out shopping in Camarthen, South Wales – but the tot had a rare heart defect that doctors missed.
After falling unconscious in her pram, little Lexi was was rushed to hospital by paramedics – but died shortly after arrival.
Speaking from the home she shares with Lexi's dad Jason Thomas, 39, and their three-year-old son Oliver, Gemma told WalesOnline: "I went shopping in the Next sale and wanted to find Lexi some pretty dresses.
"I had left Next and started walking back to my car. I touched her face expecting a reaction from her but nothing. I picked her up, calling her name but still nothing.
"I stopped a car asking for help, the driver said she was fine but I knew there was something wrong, so I ran back to Next and screamed for help while stripping her down just in the entrance.
Gemma was later told that Lexi suffered from Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage (TAPVD) – a condition where a hole in the heart stops the brain getting properly oxygenated blood.
She has since set up a campaign for hospitals to screen tots for heart defects – and also started a support group for bereaved parents.
She added: "We think about Lexi every day because she was such a huge part of our lives.
"At the time, I felt returning home that we were left to get on with life.
"There was no real support there but I had some counselling, I needed to.
"My GP referred me and I needed to talk about what had happened but it wasn’t with others who had been through it and that is what I needed.
"It was tough on my partner, Jason, too of course but he didn’t have counselling.
"I think men perhaps deal with it differently, but on the whole we as a family were left to pick up the pieces and carry on."
Source: Read Full Article