A HEARTBROKEN young couple wept at the hospital bedside of their eight-week-old baby as she was christened, just hours before dying from meningitis.

Steph Gornall and John O’Gorman asked for the ceremony to be carried out after being given the devastating news their daughter, Ellie Mai, might not survive.

On Monday, their worst fears were realised when doctors said she had no chance of survival, and the couple made the agonising decision to switch off her life-support machine.

Now the brave pair, from Breightmet, are urging other parents to remain vigilant against the signs and symptoms of the disease.

John, aged 19, said: “We don’t want anyone else to go through what we have gone through. It is such a dangerous disease so parents need to make sure they know the symptoms.

“Withdrawing the life support was the hardest decision of our lives, but the doctors told us it was her time to go. We didn’t want her to suffer any more.”

John and Steph praised staff at the Royal Bolton Hospital and Pendlebury Children’s Hospital who offered them support throughout the ordeal.

The family now plan to raise money to support research into the causes and treatment of meningitis.