Tragedy of four-week-old Nelson baby (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Tragedy of four-week-old Nelson baby

6:00pm Monday 8th October 2012 in News By Chris Adams

A BABY boy who died after 27 days has been described as ‘a little prince’ by his devastated family.

Jayden Luke Frear was only three weeks and six days old when he was found dead by his mum Clare when she went to give him his early-morning feed. His death is being treated as a cot death, with a post-mortem examination proving inconclusive.

Mother-of-three Clare, 27, of Pine Street, Nelson, said losing Jayden was the worst day of her life.

She said: “It is as if my heart has been shattered into a million pieces. He was my perfect little boy.

“There were no complications when Jayden was born - we were out of hospital the same day.

“He appeared to be a normal, healthy baby boy. We weighed him on the day before he died and he was 10lbs.

“He had been smiling since he was two weeks old and we even had our own nickname for him - Little Fat Man.”

Clare said Jayden’s brother Declan, nine, and two-year-old sister Crystal had been particularly affected.

She said: “Crystal isn’t really old enough to understand what has happened but she keeps asking where he is.

“We can’t leave her. When we leave the house she screams until we return because she thinks we’ve disappeared like Jayden.

“They adored him and now he’s not here. They were all over him at the hospital. We miss him so, so much.”

Clare went to feed Jayden his bottle at around 3.50am on September 28, only to find he had stopped breathing and his nose was bleeding.

An ambulance was called which arrived at her home at around 4.20am. He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital but doctors were unable to save him.

Clare, who attended Colne Primet High School, added: “It’s crazy how things can change in a matter of hours.

“I’ve got all my memories of him in my heart, no matter what.”

Jayden’s grandfather Peter Frear, 57, said he performed CPR on the youngster but to no avail.

He described how Jayden had been playing with his grandmother, Julie, the night before he died.

Peter said: “He was trying to bite his grandma’s finger on Thursday evening, being playful just like any other child would.

“We wanted to arrange a portrait of the whole family, all the grandchildren together, but we can’t bring ourselves to do it now - it wouldn’t be right without Jayden.

“Clare can’t bear to go back to her house either.”

Jayden’s funeral took place on Friday, with around 40 family and friends attending a service at Stott House Chapel of Rest in Colne followed by his interment at Nelson Cemetery.

His great-grandmother Yvonne, 67, from Todmorden, said: “It’s everyone’s worst nightmare. You don’t expect it to happen to you.”

The family are now hoping to raise enough money to erect a memorial bench in the garden of his grandparents’ home in East Croft.

An inquest into Jayden’s death was opened and adjourned last week while the coroner carries out further tests, with results expected within six to eight weeks.