Radiographer Wendy Egan told the hearing in Milton Keynes that when she registered her baby Thomas with the nursery in January 2002, she was reassured by the arrangements in place for caring for babies with allergies. She understood that Thomas' allergy would be written up on a board so that everyone who came into contact with him would know about it and that he would only be fed what she specified - baby rice mixed with breast milk, pureed fruit and pureed vegetables.
She said that on the day of his death, 11 April 2002, when he was five-and-a-half months old, Thomas had breakfast at home with her, as usual, before she dropped him off at the nursery soon after 9am along with some expressed milk for later on. Thomas had had a cold for the past three days but appeared to be better, and Mrs Egan gave him his inhaler before leaving him 'happy and bouncing around' and returning home. The inhaler had been prescribed after Thomas fell ill with bronchiolitis, a viral lung infection, during the winter.
Mrs Egan broke down in tears as a photograph of Thomas was passed round the hearing, and said, 'He was my pride and joy.' She recalled how she had received a call from the nursery at 9.50 and 13 seconds - the time had been displayed on her phone - asking if Thomas could be given his inhaler again, because he was having difficulty breathing, and went straight back to the nursery, arriving minutes later.
Mrs Egan drove Thomas to her doctor's surgery, which was just around the corner, but he had stopped breathing by the time she arrived. Attempts were made to resuscitate the baby at the surgery and he was taken to hospital where he was declared dead at 10.40am.
Mrs Egan explained that she had first become aware of Thomas' allergy when she fed him a bottle of formula milk in December and he came up in a rash.
She received medical advice to avoid milk products as well as dairy and peanuts.
Crystal Norman, the early years practitioner who made up the Farley's Sunrise Banana breakfast for Thomas and fed it to him, said that she knew he should not be given cow's milk and understood it would make him sick, but she did not realise the cereal contained milk, although the lid of the packet said 'with milk protein' and the ingredients listed 'skimmed milk powder'.
The baby's personal documentation, filled in by his key worker, Faye Jenkins, and signed by Mrs Egan, recorded that he had a milk allergy, but not that Mrs Egan had received medical advice or that Thomas had had a skin reaction. Notices were put up in the milk kitchen where Ms Norman made up the cereal that said Thomas had breakfast at home and that for lunch he would have fruit and vegetables and his mother's milk.
Dr Michael Powers, representing Jigsaw Day Nurseries, said he extended 'deepest condolences' and apologies to Mrs Egan on behalf of Jigsaw and Crystal Norman for the mistake made in giving Thomas the cereal. He pointed out that procedures had been changed throughout all of Jigsaw's nurseries since the incident and that no child in any nursery, whether they had allergies or not, was given any liquid, food or medicine at all unless the child had first had it at home without any adverse reaction.
The inquest was continuing as Nursery World went to press.
