Angel of Death by John Askill Read Free Book Online Page B

have treated me while I have been bringing my babies in here, and now that Becky has died it’s all so different.’
    It was the forgivable outburst of an angry mother whose little baby had just died. Calmly defusing theconfrontation, the nurse told her softly: ‘That sometimes happens when someone dies, Sue.’
    The police arrived – called by the hospital as a matter of routine to make enquiries into Becky’s ‘sudden death’. Peter, who had broken down, crying uncontrollably when he was told Becky was dead, still couldn’t bring himself to identify Becky’s body, and the job was left to Sue. She was led quietly into a room where she identified the body of Becky Grace Phillips to the waiting police officer. Her baby, born just nine weeks earlier, was at peace, looking as though she was fast asleep.
    For strength, she returned to Ward Four where Katie was perfectly healthy. She was in the hospital just as a precaution, to be monitored, they said, after the death of Becky.
    Desperately tired, they wanted to go home for a break at lunchtime. It had been an awful night and Katie was asleep. Sue remembers Nurse Allitt saying: ‘You go. I will look after her. She will be all right with me.’ They had been home just half an hour when the phone rang. A man’s voice from the hospital told Peter that Katie was having trouble breathing – and they wanted one of them to go back to the hospital.
    It didn’t sound like an emergency. Sue and her father had already steeled themselves emotionally to go to the undertakers that afternoon to begin arranging Becky’s funeral, a job they were dreading but one that had to be done. Peter decided to return to the hospital alone to see Katie. When he arrived he realised it was more serious than he’dexpected. Katie had been placed on a resuscitaire, to help her breathing, and Sister Jean Saville was caring for her.
    Sister Saville, who was forty-nine and one of the most experienced nurses in the hospital, had brought up two children herself and had a reputation for dedication and skill. She stayed until 10pm looking after Katie.
    As Peter waited the hospital’s chaplain, the Rev. Ian Shelton, approached him. He suggested to Peter that, in the circumstances, it might be advisable for Katie to be baptised. He thought it should be done there and then, where she lay in the cubicle on Ward Four. When Peter agreed, he went off to the chapel to change into his robes and returned to baptise Katie. By the time Sue arrived, unaware of the scare, the short service was already over.
    All the next day Katie recovered, still linked to the resuscitaire. She also had a special Apnia Alarm, fitted to her chest, that would sound if she stopped breathing. It went off several times on false alarms, triggered because Katie was sleeping so quietly it couldn’t detect the minute movements of her breathing. It terrified Sue and the nurses although, deep down, Sue was comforted by the thought that the hospital was taking no chances.
    Nurse Bev Allitt was on duty that Saturday and again nursed Katie all day on a one-to-one basis. Katie seemed to be ‘her baby’.
    Relieved, Sue and Peter popped upstairs for a snack with the chaplain, leaving Nurse Allitt and another young nurse to look after her.
    They were just returning to the ward when they heard the sound of a woman’s voice shouting: ‘Resus. Resus.’ It was Nurse Allitt calling for help because Katie had stopped breathing.
    Peter said: ‘When we got down to the ward we saw a nurse running across the end of the corridor, clutching Katie to her chest, shouting. We hadn’t been gone that long and I couldn’t believe it was happening again.’
    Doctors and nurses poured into the treatment room and began the battle to save her little life. Their efforts were rewarded when finally, after just a few minutes, they managed to bring Katie round.
    Peter said: ‘We were just so thankful that she made it. Neither of us could have taken losing her too. When