Boy's heartbreaking wish to Santa for first Christmas since losing young brother
Parents of a toddler who died on Boxing Day last year have revealed their other son's poignant Christmas wish as they face their first without him.
Little Jack Midgley had playing with his new presents on Christmas Day last year with no signs of any health problems. But parents Darren and Cheryl Szulhan had their life changed irrevocably overnight that night, waking on Boxing Day morning to find him unresponsive.
The 16-month-old was tragically pronounced dead with doctors unable to find anything to suggest any underlying health problems. An investigation concluded on the same week as what would have been his second birthday this year determined Jack's death as a sudden unexplained death in an infant or child (SUDIC).
But approaching the one-year mark since losing Jack, older brother Louis told his parents he was asking Santa for his baby brother to "come back from the stars". The four-year-old had made it his Christmas wish to have Jack home, Darren said.
Jack was initially taken to Airedale Hospital in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where Cheryl was already a ward sister, with the youngster still in his Christmas pyjamas from going to bed the night before. Adamant on him not being in a hospital mortuary, they were able to bring him to Martin House Hospice in Wetherby, near Leeds, where the family pitched up for five days into the New Year.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Jack and Louis were the 'perfect brothers for each other', dad Darren said (Collect)
Jack with dad Darren last Christmas (Collect)Darren, 36, a police officer, told The Mirror they didn't want Jack "in a cold fridge in a hospital", with them both familiar with mortuaries in their respective jobs. "From the moment Jack arrived [at Martin House], we never left and spent about four or five days there," he said.
"It was horrendous and beautiful at the same time." Despite a routine investigation being launched into Jack's death, Darren, Cheryl and Louis were able to hold Jack and say their goodbyes. "Of course we didn't want to be there in the first place, but we didn't want to leave either.
"The staff did everything for us, they really are angels." The couple are now raising money for Martin House Hospice as a small repayment for looking after Jack's body.
Jack died of Sudden or Unexplained Death in Infants and Children (SUDIC) on Boxing Day last year (Collect)
Jack pictured with mum Cheryl on Christmas Day last year (Collect)"Our heads were fried at that point," Darren added. "We were still in shock as we had just lost Jack, but we were thankful we got to do it somewhere less clinical. There's nothing worse than grieving when you got the smell of disinfectant around you."
As Louis was too young to understand Jack's death, Darren and Cheryl, 37, told him his baby brother "had gone to the stars". "For his Christmas present from Santa this year, he asked for his baby brother Jack to come back from the stars," Darren said. "It just broke us all over again."
An estimated 40 children die from SUDIC each year in the UK, according to charity SUDC UK, and although rare, losing Jack has understandably caused anxieties for Darren and Cheryl over Louis. The term applies to any unexplained death of children aged between 12 months and 18 years old.
You can donate to the Martin House Hospice's Make Every Christmas Count appeal inspired by Jack's story here.
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