Mother tells of attempt to save toddler strangled by blind cord

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/15/mother-toddler-strangled-blind-cord

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The mother of a two-year-old girl who died after getting accidentally tangled in a window blind cord in her bedroom has told how she frantically gave mouth-to-mouth to her daughter in an attempt to save her.

Alexandra Lucy Hoegh, the daughter of multimillionaire businessman Morten Hoegh, 39, and his wife, Dana, died after the tragic accident in her top-floor room at the family's four-storey luxury home in west London last October, an inquest heard.

Mrs Hoegh gave evidence about how she ran into the street with her daughter's limp body and tried to save her after Alexandra's nanny found her in her cot with a cord around her neck.

Westminster coroner's court in London heard that Mrs Hoegh was chatting with a friend, Catherine Mathiesen, downstairs in the kitchen when they heard the nanny, Melinda De La Cruz, scream twice from upstairs.

"We went to the door of the kitchen and met Melinda with Alexandra," she said.

"She was blue. She was not breathing.

"I ran downstairs into the street. I asked my friend Catherine to call an ambulance and started mouth-to-mouth on her on the pavement."

She added that Alexandra's colour came back straight away after CPR and she was a little sick but she did not respond further.

The inquest heard how police found Mrs Hoegh and Mathiesen crying in the street as paramedics fought to revive the youngster. The women had been so distressed that it had taken the 999 operator two minutes to establish the address to send an ambulance to.

Alexandra was rushed to St Mary's hospital in Paddington, where she was pronounced dead just over an hour after she had been found.

Mr and Mrs Hoegh issued a statement after the inquest saying their daughter's death had left them "devastated" and asked for their privacy to be respected as they came to terms with their loss.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox ruled that Alexandra, just three weeks before her third birthday, died as the result of an accident. Wilcox said she would write to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), asking it to talk to blind manufacturers about putting warnings on their products. More than 20 children have died since 1999 from looped blind cords, according to figures released last year.

The inquest heard that De La Cruz found the toddler "standing" in the cot with the cord around her neck when she went to wake her from what should have been an afternoon nap.

Hoegh told the inquest the nanny – who had trained in childcare in her native country but did not complete the course – had arrived late for work at 1.50pm. She took over from her mother, Andrea, who cleaned and helped nanny for the Hoeghs, apologised to her employer and then went upstairs to get the toddler at around 2.10pm.

The hearing was told that Alexandra was "very adept" at climbing in and out of her cot, using a table next to it.

The roller blind on the window was within her reach if she stood in her cot, although she was not known to have reached for it.

The toddler's death followed a series of similar incidents which prompted The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to advise parents to install cordless blinds in children's rooms, or keep cords out of reach.

In January 2012, two-year-old Arthur Winfield died after accidentally hanging himself with a window blind cord as he tried to see his friend out of a window in Markyate, Hertfordshire. The same month, 22-month-old Joshua Wakeham died after becoming tangled in a cord at his home in Newport, south Wales.

Giving a cause of death as asphyxiation caused by hanging, Wilcox said Mrs Hoegh was "extraordinarily brave" to give evidence.

"Alexandra died as a result of an accidental suspension after unfortunately becoming tangled with a window blind cord next to her crib," she said.

"This is a tragic and appalling death and I cannot imagine how her family must feel.

"I will make inquiries with the HSE to find out whether such blinds already have warnings on them with the risk of becoming entangled with children, causing such deaths."