Parents tell of heartbreaking decision to let baby die

Five-month-old Bethany Kerrell - who was born with part of her chromosomes missing, so she was oxygen-dependent, had two small holes in her heart, and was partially blind and deaf - passed away in her mother Kimberley's arms at 6pm on Thursday evening.

Kimberley and Bethany's dad Christopher had rushed to the hospital that morning when staff alerted them that their baby was struggling to breathe.

But as Bethany's condition got worse, her parents had to make the agonising decision to switch off their daughter's ventilator.

"The doctors tried everything - they put an oxygen mask on her, tried to get a tube down her throat and finally put her under gas and air in theatre," Christopher said.

"They said they were just managing to keep her head above water but her little chest went rigid and she just couldn't breathe for herself.

"Me and Kim then had to sit down and have a talk about what we wanted to do.

"We didn't want to let her go but we decided that we just didn't want to put her body through any more pain.

"It was the best thing for her."

Christopher said Bethany's ventilator was turned off at 5pm.

"We brought her back down to her room in the hospital and Kim held her in her arms as she died.

"It has still not sunk in that our little girl has gone, but we are determined to remember the happy times."

The Worcester News has been following Bethany's progress since August when her parents told how she couldn't return home because her flat was too small to accommodate her medical equipment.

The equipment she needed to keep her alive for one month took up a whole room in the Worcester Community Housing flat in Cranham Drive, Warndon, and Bethany had only been able to return home for three days since being born.

The story touched the hearts of many readers and attracted headlines in national newspapers.

The arrangements for Bethany's funeral are now being made.