THIS is tragic baby Chloe Jackson, killed by meningitis after a short life scarred by abuse.

Chloe, who died on Sunday, would have been one next Wednesday.

When she was less than three-months-old she was put on the Child Protection Register after suffering violence at her father's hands.

He was put on probation for 18 months after he appeared at Bolton magistrates court on a child cruelty charge.

In September, Chloe's mother Samantha fled from her violent partner and moved to a mother and baby unit in Bolton. After a week there Chloe and Samantha were allowed "home" to Chloe's grandmother's house on the Hag Fold estate in Atherton where they remained until her death on Sunday. Her grandfather Gordon said: "When you think of all the suffering she had to go through, her death seems all the more sad."

Ironically, just three days before she died, Chloe was taken off the Child Protection Register.

She had shown no early signs of serious illness.

On Saturday she was sitting up watching television with her mum's younger brother and sister.

"There was absolutely nothing wrong with her on the Saturday," said grandmother Dariel. "She was as bright and perky as she could be."

It was only when Samantha woke up with her daughter at 10.20 on Sunday morning that the family realised something was seriously wrong.

"Samantha brought her into me and she was covered in a rash," Dariel said. Dariel rang for an ambulance and Chloe was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital. At 1pm she stopped breathing and although doctors managed to get her heart started again, she died just after 3pm. Now, instead of preparing to move into a new home with her daughter and new boyfriend, Samantha is planning her daughter's funeral on Monday.

Shopkeepers and taxi firms are collecting around the town to raise the money the family desperately needs to pay for a headstone.

The BEN has already contributed £50 towards the fund, which is being held by funeral directors Abbey Funerals at 45, Mealhouse Lane, Atherton, tel 01942 886776.

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