Five-month-old dies after ‘neglect incident’ at Legoland

A five-month-old baby boy who suffered a cardiac arrest following an incident at Legoland last week has died in hospital, police said.

Detectives arrested a 27-year-old woman on suspicion of child neglect after the death at the leisure park in Windsor. It has emerged that a retired paramedic had initially managed to revive the child after hearing shouts for help.

The infant was rushed to Wexham Park Hospital, in Slough, Berks, after the incident on Thursday, but died on Monday.

Matthew Burns, 60, was visiting Legoland with his family and was standing near the Coastguard HQ pedalo ride when a woman ran over asking for help.

Mr Burns told Mail Online he rushed over to find the baby “blue in the face and floppy”, and helped another off-duty medic to try to revive him.

He said they gave the child CPR for 20 minutes until he started breathing again, before paramedics rushed him to hospital for emergency treatment.

Police cordoned off area

Mr Burns, who spent 40 years working for the ambulance service, was at the attraction with his daughter and her family when it happened. He said the boy had been in a baby carrier when he raced to his aid.

He added: “Just before the ambulances and police turned up, we got a pulse from the boy and he started to make some slight respiratory effort.

“When we first got to him, I held up his little arm but it flopped down flat, but when we later checked for a pulse his arm stayed up, so at least we were getting some tone.

“There were about six policemen that turned up and cordoned off the area and took statements. My focus had been on the baby. The mother was being looked after by other visitors while this was going on. She was distraught, obviously, and a bit shellshocked.”

Stacey Irwin, Mr Burns’ daughter, described on social media how her father tried to save the boy. She wrote: “It was a long time they spent doing CPR – at least 20-plus minutes. Matt and the other man did an incredible job and managed to get the baby back breathing at the point the ambulances turned up.”

‘Thoughts are with the family’

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police appealed for the public not to speculate on the child neglect investigation, saying: “A five-month-old baby who was seriously injured in a neglect incident at Legoland Windsor Resort, sadly died in hospital on Monday.

“A 27-year-old woman from Witham, Essex, was arrested on suspicion of neglecting a child to cause unnecessary injury on Thursday. She has been released on police bail until July 26.”

Investigating officer Detective Constable Zoe Eele, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said the force was investigating a “distressing incident involving a very young child”.

She added: “Firstly, our thoughts are with the family of the boy who sadly died in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. We are supporting them as best we can at this extremely difficult time.

“We are working closely with the team at Legoland Windsor Resort but would like to speak to anyone who may have information about this incident, specifically anyone who was queueing for the Coastguard HQ boat ride between around 11.30am and 12.45pm on Thursday.

“We have made an arrest in relation to this incident, and are not looking for anyone else as a suspect. I would ask for the public to please avoid speculation about the incident and to respect the boy’s family at this deeply upsetting time.”