THE parents of a baby girl whose organs were removed by Alder Hey Hospital without their knowledge after her death were left to grieve for a second time after burying the now-recovered organs just before Christmas.

And the shock of it was so much for the child's mum, diabetic Gillian Sexton, that she collapsed and spent most of Christmas in hospital.

Brave Nicola Sexton had not been expected to live beyond six months after she was born in July, 1991 with half a heart. But the little battler survived until April, 1992 when she died at Alder Hey, aged eight months, following an unsuccessful operation to build up the other side of her heart.

Her dad, Robert, from Beechwood Close, Clock Face, told the Star: "She was a real little fighter. We were told afterwards by a midwife that they were surprised she had lived as long as she had because they only gave her six months at the most."

Following Nicola's death, Robert, Gillian, and their other three children Claire (now 15), Emma (14) and 11-year-old Karl, were left devastated.

But all their grief came flooding back when they discovered that, following her death, the hospital had removed Nicola's heart, lungs, brain, liver, kidneys and intestines without their consent.

Gillian added: "We had read about other parents finding that this had happened to their children but we never believed the hospital had done the same to Nicola. It was only when we got back from a family holiday and there was a letter waiting for us from the hospital which left us all shell-shocked.

"We never gave permission for this. The only form we signed was a consent form for Nicola's heart operation. And, although we were told they were to be used for research, they were just left to collect dust in the hospital basement with all the other baby organs."

The hospital agreed to return Nicola's organs to Gillian and Robert and the couple buried them at her graveside at St Nicholas' Church

Robert added: "Gillian is a diabetic and all this has made her really ill. When Nicola died I felt as though I had failed her. Now I feel I've failed her again."

A spokeswoman for Alder Hey Hospital told the Star: "We are currently awaiting the outcome of an internal inquiry on the issue after which there will be a Government inquiry. However, there is a help-line number on 0800 282986 for all parents and we are also offering counselling and the return of organs for any parents who request them.

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