Mum's 'instinct' led her to find Lucy Letby standing over daughter's cot at 3am
The parents of a girl who nearly died shortly after she was born believe she was one of serial baby killer nurse Lucy Letby's first victims.
Victoria and Mike Whitfield's daughter Felicity suffered catastrophic lung collapse three days after being born prematurely at The Countess of Chester Hospital in November 2013.
Letby, 33, was yesterday convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six more, replacing Myra Hindley and Ian Brady as Britain's most prolific-ever child killer.
Victoria saw a blonde woman - who she believes was Letby - standing over her baby's cot before "all hell broke loose". A chaplain was called for Felicity - who recovered and is now nine - to carry out an emergency baptism before she was miraculously revived at a second hospital.
Victoria said she left her hospital room to go to the neonatal unit at 3am. She told The Times: "I don't know what it was, call it mother's instinct. I felt I needed to go down to the neonatal unit. I walked in — everything seemed quite calm. Lucy Letby was by [the cot] and then she walked out into the other room. I went to have a look at Felicity and within minutes all hell broke loose."
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Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies (Cheshire Constabulary/AFP via Ge)She described how nurses were "running around everywhere" but it felt so surreal, as if she wasn't even in the room. Felicity's parents are now demanding police investigate all deaths and near deaths in the lead up to the period Letby has been convicted from.
Medical notes reportedly confirm Letby had taken care of Felicity before she was transferred from The Countess of Chester. Mike told The Telegraph: "The police investigation into the deaths and collapses at the hospital has to be widened to look at Felicity and the other unexplained collapses and deaths on that ward during the entire time Letby was working there, for the sake of all the parents."
Felicity was only two days old when Mike was sent home by a nurse who he believes was Letby, with his wife recovering following labour. He received a phone call later telling him his daughter's condition had deteriorated, with medical staff saying she was unlikely to survive.
The baby was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital and was saved before being transferred back to The Countess of Chester for recovery. Following news of Letby's arrest, Victoria and Mike began to think more about Felicity's brush with death. Victoria recalls Letby having no real expression on her face when she allegedly walked in on her standing by her baby's cot. She said she then walked around the room before leaving.
Cheshire Police limited their investigation to the deaths of 17 babies and 15 non-fatal collapses at the hospital's neonatal unit between March 2015 and July 2016. This period was almost two years after Felicity was born.
Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies Letby may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2012 and 2015. Cheshire police have said that there was "nothing untoward established" in Felicity's case but the position could be assessed with new information.
Mr Whitfield and his wife are desperately seeking justice for Felicity and other babies because they are adamant Letby's sickening crimes go beyond what she was investigated for.
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