Matthew and Theresa Smith have been fighting for answers over baby girl’s death for seven years (Image: DAILY RECORD) Get the latest Renfrewshire stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest Renfrewshire stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice A grieving mum and dad have been “stonewalled every step of the way” as they fought for answers about their baby girl’s death. As little Sophia Smith’s parents tend her grave on Easter Sunday – on what would have been her seventh birthday – they are praying the announcement of a fatal accident inquiry will finally get justice for the infant. Theresa and Matthew Smith’s “warrior princess” died aged just 11 days in 2017 in Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children after she picked up a rare hospital-acquired toxin infection which later developed into sepsis. Theresa, 43, and Matthew, 53, have been fighting for answers ever since. Read More Related Articles Aberfeldy murder victim Brian Low died from 'shotgun wounds to chest and neck' Read More Related Articles Parents fume after being offered school class photo with 'no complex needs pupils in them' Legal constraints meant the couple have been gagged from speaking about their fight for justice until now. But they are hoping the inquiry, which gets under way in May, will finally properly examine Sophia’s last days. Their repeated attempts to get answers from NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have failed. Speaking for the first time, Theresa said: “Up until this point the health board have stonewalled us every step of the way. We have hit every brick wall they have thrown at us, absorbed every low blow and jumped every hurdle, all designed to wear us down. It has been merciless and a very long road. Theresa cradles baby Sophia in her final hours (Image: UGC) “We’re asked so many times why we are still grieving so hard and the answer is simply how much we love her. But also the first stage of grief is acceptance. How can we accept what we don’t know? “We have been trapped in raw grief for seven years. It’s inhumane. It has ripped our world apart. Nothing will ever be the same again. Sophia fought so hard to survive, our tiny girl had the heart of a lion.” Choking back tears, Theresa added: “She didn’t deserve that gruesome death. We owe it to her to fight for justice. We will seek justice to our last breaths. We won’t let Sophia down.” Theresa visits Sophia’s grave almost every day but Easter is a particularly difficult time. They had been told the tot would get home for Easter but, heartbreakingly, that was the day the couple took her broken little body home. Join the Daily Record
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BREAKING news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile , select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Theresa said: “Sophia had a few issues at birth but we weren’t too worried.” But at a few hours old she was transferred to the
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Doctors at the Royal Alexandra Maternity Unit in Paisley told Theresa and Matthew the £800million hospital had specialist equipment to get Sophia well quickly. Theresa said: “I keep thinking if she had stayed in Paisley she would still be alive.” Over a few days the machines helping to keep the tot alive grew fewer in number and about six days after her admission to the Glasgow hospital medical staff started talking about her getting home. But everything turned on the 10th day. Theresa said: “I had been telling staff all day I thought something was wrong. Sophia looked so pale and it was as if she was struggling to move. I just knew something wasn’t right.If they had just checked her properly when I raised my concerns things could have turned out very different. I am convinced medical negligence cost Sophia her life.” Parents Matthew and Theresa (Image: DAILY RECORD) Within hours little Sophia died in her heartbroken mother’s arms. The lower half of her body had turned black. Theresa said: “They must have known she had sepsis but we had no idea. We were begging them to save her.” As they held her in her last moments, her skin was peeling as it rotted away. Theresa said: “It was traumatic to see our baby girl suffer such an undignified death.” Top news stories today Grieving kids left to sleep on sofa Victim of rapist Kim Avis speaks out Two teens die in tragic e-bike crash Man charged over 'bully attack' They were even advised by the funeral director not to see Sophia as they thought they would be upset. They had to tape her leg back on because of the damage the sepsis had done. But they insisted on seeing her. Theresa said: “We’re in a nightmare from which we can never wake up but we are very grateful to Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain for granting us a fatal accident inquiry.” Poignantly, the devastated mum said: “Sophia’s birthday is on Easter Sunday this year. She would have been seven and she should be here with us. Instead of giving her gifts and chocolate eggs we will take flowers to the cemetery. This should never have happened and that fact kills us inside.” An NHSGGC spokesman said: “We would once again extend our deepest condolences to the family of Sophia. We will cooperate fully with the inquiry and implement any findings.” Don't miss the latest news from around
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