A mum has shared her heartbreak at finding her two-year-old son dead in bed after he contracted a form of pneumonia.
Little Albie Farrell had picked up a viral infection that mum Catherine Brumfitt was sure had passed after he started to get better. But the morning after putting him to bed following a day playing in the park, she was horrified to discover he wouldn't wake up.
The Echo reports that Catherine tried in vain to perform CPR on her little boy – but that he had been dead for some time and could not be resuscitated. Nearly two years on from the death in May 2021, the family – including Albie's brothers Jenson and Caleb – is now raising money for child bereavement charities.
Catherine, 37, recalled: "He was very cheeky, he was just a happy and loving little boy. Him and Jenson were just inseparable.
"They were together all the time. Caleb has additional needs so he wasn't as involved.
"It was always Jenson and Albie together. He was just so happy and cheeky, your typical two-year-old boy.
"He was lovely. It was hard, me and my partner feel as though we didn't have time to grieve.
"I tried to do CPR on Albie and bring him back but we didn't realise he had been dead for too long. We thought he was sleeping in because he had been up in the night.
"We've tried to all support each other because we're a big family. Albie was a well-known child in the area, everyone loved him."
Catherine has since discovered that Albie died after contracting bronchopneumonia. The family has since left their home in Seacombe, immediately west of Liverpool, and moved to Leasowe a few miles away.
The memories of Albie's death in the house were too much to bear. Now, Catherine is looking to raise as much money as possible for the charity Wirral Wings, which creates clothes for stillborn children, and the Snowdrop child bereavement team at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
Speaking ahead of a family fun day on April 22, the mum added: "What I plan to do is have lots of stalls there. There's going to be a bouncy castle and an assault course for the kids.
"It'll be a nice way of remembering Albie. Wirral Wings are amazing, even now they're checking in and offering support.
"When Albie died they got in touch with me and they ended up making his suit that he got cremated in out of my sister's wedding dress."
To visit Catherine's Facebook group, In Memory of Albie Farrell, click here.
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