A tragic incident has left a family in mourning, as a newborn baby died after the mother’s desperate calls for help went unanswered. Wyllow-Raine Swinburn, born on September 27 at John Radcliffe Hospital, collapsed in the early hours of September 30, just days after being taken home. The devastating events unfolded as the baby went into a ‘prolonged period of cardiac arrest’, prompting a frantic call to emergency services.
To Amelia Pill’s horror, she spent seven agonising minutes trying to reach a 999 operator without success, while her newborn baby’s life hung in the balance. The family performed CPR on the three-day-old infant for 40 minutes while waiting for paramedics to arrive at their home, as recounted at the Oxford Coroner’s Court last year. Senior Coroner Darren Salter adjourned the inquest to allow for further evidence gathering.
During the early morning of September 30, at 4:38 am, Amelia called for an ambulance when Wyllow-Raine stopped breathing. However, a distressing seven-minute delay occurred before the emergency call was answered by the ambulance service. Her anguished cry of “Why are they not answering the f**king phone?” echoed through the home, leaving her family distraught. Despite the desperate efforts, it wasn’t until 5:09 am that an ambulance finally arrived.
Tragically, despite the medical attention at John Radcliffe Hospital, Wyllow-Raine was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The cause of her untimely death was determined as sudden unexpected death in infancy by paediatric pathologist Dr Darren Farrell, with the post-mortem revealing no abnormalities. An internal investigation by Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust followed the incident, concluding that the outcome was not significantly impacted by the emergency call response time.
The full inquest into Wyllow-Raine’s death is scheduled to resume on December 2-3, 2024, providing an opportunity for further examination of the sequence of events leading to the heartbreaking loss. The family’s harrowing experience serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of timely emergency responses in safeguarding precious lives.