Heidi Renton, 31, was the picture of health just five days earlier but she fainted in the car on the way to hospital and died - as did little Isabella who was starved of oxygen
 |
| Craig Renton and his wife Heidi were excited to welcome their first child before tragedy struck(Image: PA REAL LIFE) |
An excited dad-to-be saw his world collapse around him after losing the love of his life and their newborn baby girl within hours of each other.
His beaming wife Heidi Renton, 31, was the picture of health five days earlier putting on a ‘Mummy-to-be’ sash at a surprise baby shower.
But on Friday, August 4 this year, her husband Craig, an RAF engineer, suffered a double tragedy.
He had arrived home at lunchtime to find his wife feeling ill with pains in her chest.
They phoned her GP and were told to go to hospital and get Heidi, a Nottingham University Hospital therapy radiographer, checked out.
"We thought it might be the baby on the way. The due date was August 12, so it was possible. We were both so nervous and excited. It was our first, much-wanted baby ,” Craig, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, said.
Then a few minutes after setting off in their car for the 20-mile journey to Kings Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Heidi fainted.
“I was horrified,” recalled Craig. “Immediately I pulled over onto the roadside. She woke briefly and I was so relieved.”
But suddenly, Heidi had a seizure and he desperately called 999.
“She started fitting and her lips turned blue, as though she was being starved of oxygen,” he said.
“As I waited for an ambulance, a woman pulled over, who happened to be a nurse. She started taking her pulse and listening to her breathing.”
 |
| Craig called their daughter Isabella as that was Heidi's favourite name (Image: PA Real Life) |
Heidi was taken by ambulance to King’s Mill where she was taken to the resuscitation area as Craig waited for news in the family room.
“I paced the floors,” he said. “How could it be that hours earlier I’d waved goodbye to her and now she was in a hospital bed?”
Ten minutes later, he watched as the medical team trailed out of the room where Heidi was being treated in tears.
“They had tears streaming down their faces,” he reflected. “One sat with me and said something I’ll never forget. “I’m sorry your wife has died’. But then he added…’Would you like to meet your baby girl?’”
His daughter had been delivered by emergency caesarean seconds before his wife died.
The new dad went straight to his wife’s hospital bedside.
"I told her she was a mum and that I loved her and was proud of her and just broke down,” he said.
“Then I had to do one of the hardest things ever – call her parents and tell them their daughter had died and they had a granddaughter. Of course, they were confused. We all were.”
But as her family travelled to hospital he was hit with further devastating news. Scans on his daughter born weighing 8lb 2oz had shown there was no brain activity.
“Although it is not confirmed, it’s believed that while Heidi was having a seizure, she had been starved of oxygen.
“I was told she would die. For three hours, she was on a ventilator and then I made the decision to turn it off.
“She died peacefully in my arms at 15 hours old. Although I only knew her for 15 hours I grew to love her so much.
“She and Heidi were, and always will be, the loves of my life.”
 |
| Craig and Heidi Renton on their wedding day(Image: PA Real Life/Phil Clegg) |
Craig called their little girl Isabella, because before her death Heidi, who did not know she was having a girl, told Craig that was her favourite name.
He still does not know why Heidi died but believes it was natural causes.
“There is still an investigation going on. I don’t want to frighten other mums-to-be as I know this was a very rare situation,” he said.
“During scans and appointments, she was fine. We saw her heartbeat, she was healthy. Heidi was over-the-moon.
“It’s so difficult having everything you wanted and dreamed of snatched away so suddenly.
"It took just 15 hours for Heidi to die, Isabella to be born and then to lose her, too. I was a dad for just 15 hours.”
The couple had decorated the nursery ready for their new arrival, but Craig said: “Now it hurts to go in there, because I know she’s gone and so has Isabella.
“But, they’re together and will be - mum and daughter - forever.”
Andy Haynes, Medical Director at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is truly heartbreaking and our thoughts go out to Mr Renton at this time.
“It was a rare situation where mum came into A&E seriously unwell. I know our staff in A&E and from the whole hospital who came to A&E to care for her did everything they could to save both her and her baby’s lives and were deeply affected by their loss.”
Craig is raising money for Nottingham University Hospital’s radiology unit, so it can get a new MRI scanner - a cause Heidi was passionate about.
You can donate here
Tags
Scotland Now