A heartbroken mother has described the moment her "healthy" and "beautiful" baby daughter was found dying by her big sister at their home in Bolton.
Jessamy Muswere-Enagbonma was just four-months-old when she died on January 23 last year. It followed a cardiac arrest in her sleep a few days earlier.
The tot was discovered by her big sister, Jemima, eight, who doted on her and had gone into the room where she was sleeping to check on her. She found Jessamy lifeless with blood around her nose and screamed for help.
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She was rushed to hospital but despite the best efforts of medical staff, the baby girl died four days later. Mum-of-seven, Pauline, said Jemima was a typical big sister and adored Jessamy.
Pauline said: "She (Jemima) could never bear to be apart from Jessamy for long and she went in to check her whilst she was sleeping and found her lifeless."
Pauline and Charles were married in Middlesbrough in 2004 before settling in Bolton. They went on to have seven children, Jeffrey, 17, Jeremy, 15, Jerome, 11, Jemima, now 10, Jezreel, eight, Jenaya, three and Jessamy, who was born in September 2021.
"I always wanted a big family. Charles is a real family man and devoted to his children, he is a great cook and loves playing football with the kids," she said.
"Jessamy was our youngest, she was perfectly healthy and developing really well. The older children adored her and Jemima, especially, was a little mother hen. She never let Jessamy out of her sight for long."
In January 2021, the family had relatives visiting and Charles, 49, fed Jessamy and put her down to sleep. He feared that with a full house they might not hear Jessamy if she was upstairs alone, so put her to sleep in the downstairs office on a flat sofa bed on her tummy.
But around 25 minutes later, the couple’s daughter, Jemima, crept in to check on her baby sister and screamed for help. Jessamy was lifeless and with blood around her nose.
Pauline said: "The police came, because the death was unexplained, but they were very sensitive." Jessamy was rushed to hospital and put on life-support for four days before she died, aged four months, on January 23, 2021.
"We were numb with shock. She was such a healthy, beautiful, baby. The doctors could not say why she had died. At her funeral, we chose a hymn which we’d played when Jessamy was born and also when her life support was withdrawn. It was very painful, for us and for our children."
An inquest in June last year found Jessamy had died from brain damage caused by a cardiac arrest while sleeping when prone. Pauline and her husband Charles have now set up a care business in their daughter's memory. Pauline now works from home in the same room that her daughter died in.
"It was very hard not to have any answers. I needed a focus, especially whilst the children were at school," she said. She and Charles have set up the nursing and care business called 'Jessamy Solutions' And 'Jessamy Platinum Homecare.' The companies supply staff to the care industry across the North West and also offer homecare.
Pauline said: "When I work in our home office, where Jessamy died, I remember her. We want to make our care businesses a success for her, and for our older children.
"We hope to pass our companies to them when they are older. More than anything, we want to make sure Jessamy’s name and memory is never forgotten."
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