A WESTHOUGHTON couple whose one-week-old baby died in the Royal Bolton Hospital have helped to buy a new incubator.

Janine White gave birth to Elijah on October 13, 2015 but he was born critically ill and suffered from starvation of the brain.

The little boy died seven days later on October 20.

Mrs White and her husband Carl thanked the neonatal unit at Royal Bolton for helping to keep their son alive for one week and since the tragedy they have supported Prestwich charity MedEquip4kids.

The charity aims to improve the health of children and babies in the UK by providing equipment not available from NHS resources

Mr White from Westhoughton, said: “Our beautiful son, Elijah, was born on 13th October 2015. As soon as we saw him we fell unconditionally in love. He was half Janine, half me and he was perfect.

“However, due to complications during labour, Elijah suffered Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (starvation of oxygen to the brain) and was critically ill when he was born.

“Thanks to our little boy’s amazing fighting spirit and the readily available equipment, facilities and staff at Royal Bolton Neonatal unit, we were blessed with a week of amazing memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.”

Now thanks to support from Mr and Mrs White and Bolton based The Bradshaw Gass Trust and Simplyhealth, MedEquip4kids has been able to provide the hospital with a new state-of-the-art incubator. It will be used to provide a safe, stable, temperature controlled environment for newborn or poorly children.

Mr White added: “Since his passing, we have learned that a lot of the specialist equipment and faculties that kept both Elijah and us comfortable during his short life were funded by previous projects by MedEquip4Kids.

“It is only when something like this happens to you that you realise how important charities like MedEquip4Kids are. We have experienced their work first hand and without them we might never have had the special moments that we shared with our amazing boy”.

Sarah Suthers, fundraiser for MedEquip4kids said: “When babies are born it is crucial that all the right equipment is on hand to give them the best possible chance of a healthy future.”

Vince Ashton, nurse practitioner at Royal Bolton Hospital said: “The incubator is an essential addition to the acute paediatric and neonatal unit at RBH. The impact this will have on the babies that will use it is immeasurable”

Visit www.medequip4kids.org.uk or call 0161 798 1600.