THE parents of a twin baby boy who died at home say they still have unanswered questions.
Angelo Mercer was just eight months old when his mum Janice Gough awoke to find him not breathing at their home in east Hull in January this year.
At an inquest, the Hull Coroner's Court heard how Angelo – who was twin brother to Preston, now one – had suffered from frequent spasms.
He was also not developing at the same rate as Preston and was undergoing various tests to find out what was wrong.
The court was told Angelo had died from four viruses, which had damaged his lungs. He was thought to be more susceptible to illness as his "failure to thrive" would have hindered his immune system development.
But in the court, Janice, 30, said: "I repeatedly went to the doctors and Hull Royal Infirmary with problems with Angelo.
"But a GP had called me a 'paranoid mother' because I kept saying something was wrong."
Coroner Professor Paul Marks heard how Angelo was born about 20 minutes after Preston at home in May last year – eight weeks premature.
Both boys were then cared for at hospital and then allowed home.
But soon it was noticeable that Angelo was not developing at the same rate as his brother and would suffer from spasms, where his spine would arch back in a banana shape.
He also had various illnesses, coughs and what were thought to be chest infections.
Several tests and scans had been performed by doctors but the last set of results, from an MRI scan, showed nothing abnormal.
Angelo was due to have further tests, but died before they could be performed.
Angelo's dad Steve Mercer, 30, said after the inquest: "We feel let down by the NHS system – we believe they let him down from the minute he was born.
"The fact they called Janice a paranoid mother was just
horrible.
"We will definitely be taking this further."
Dr Sandhya Jose, a then locum consultant paediatrician at Hull Royal Infirmary, had
previously treated Angelo, along with her colleagues.
She told the inquest: "The tests we had done had all come back negative, so we were then looking for quite rare conditions and would probably have sent them to specialists at Great Ormond Street or Leeds.
"But even now, sometimes we never find any answers."
Both Janice and Steve said in court they believed more could have been done, and that Angelo should have been admitted to hospital as an inpatient.
Dr Jose said: "There were investigations planned at that point in time.
"If my colleagues had felt his breathing had got worse and they thought they needed to bring him in, they wouldn't have hesitated."
Prof Marks found Angelo died after contracting four viruses, which damaged his heart.
He said: "I return a verdict that he died of natural causes."
"I am sad Preston has been deprived of his twin brother and you have my continuing condolences."
The couple have now vowed to take the matter further, as they feel the inquest did not answer all their questions, and will be seeking legal advice.
