Baby dies suddenly after dad finds her on living room floor

The parents of a six-week-old baby who suddenly died are still seeking answers over the tragedy. Jake and Megan Oakley, from Runcorn, Cheshire, were taking it in turns during the night to watch their tiny daughter Cassidy in September 2021, after Jake underwent post-spinal surgery.

Their lives were sadly changed forever on September 5. Jake said baby Cassidy was placed on a baby pillow on a small footstool surrounded by pillows and blankets before he fell asleep at around 11pm.

But after half an hour he said he was woken by what he described as a "higher force", as Cassidy was no longer there. He told the ECHO: "I can only describe it as a higher force because there was no crying or noise, she just wasn't there. I wondered if Meg had taken her upstairs but then I saw the pink onesie and she'd fallen.

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"She wasn't breathing or responding. I'd been sleeping downstairs because I couldn't get upstairs after surgery, but I ran up to the bedroom and immediately called 999 while I carried out CPR."

Jake said he believed Cassidy had suffered a heart attack which led to her falling from the stool to the floor, and she was rushed to Warrington Hospital where her parents say she became stable. Jake said an initial post-mortem examination showed she suffered a second heart attack, resulting in brain damage.

He added: "We weren't allowed to be with her because there was a police investigation but we waited in the waiting room for five hours before we were told she was stable enough to be transferred to Alder Hey, which is where she died."

Jake said he was not allowed to see the couple's other daughter Esme, aged two, while the investigation was ongoing, which