A mother has spoken movingly about her ‘feisty’ son who died cradled in her arms at five-months-old from premature birth complications.
Northumberland baby Frankie Foster was born weighing just 565g – little more than a bag of pasta – at 24 weeks and one day on October 22, 2019, at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. Over the coming weeks he underwent three life saving operations and 12 blood and plasma transfusions as he valiantly fought for his life.
Eventually his little body could take no more, and he died peacefully on April 7, 2020, as his mother, Leigh Swithenbank, gently held him on her chest after his health deteriorated and doctors turned off his ventilator. Now Leigh, 31, who is also mother to Cory, 11, and Harry, nine, has spoken movingly about her youngest child and his courageous battle for survival.
