By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 13:28, Wednesday, 17 October 2012

A little boy died of a rare viral infection – aged just 21 months.

Zach Crozier

Zach Thomas Crozier was found by his mum Gina lying on his tummy in his cot bed in February. He wasn’t responsive when she tried to move him and she shouted for his dad Daniel to come and help.

A report read to an inquest in Carlisle said that Mr Crozier, a children’s youth worker, began CPR while Mrs Crozier called for an ambulance.

Paramedics arrived at their Hallbankgate home and started trying to resuscitate little Zach with cardiac massage.

He was rushed by ambulance to the Cumberland Infirmary but pronounced dead in the early hours of February 16.

A report by a paediatric pathologist concluded that Zach had died from acute hypoxaemia respiratory failure and acute interstitial pneumonitis (coxsackie A virus type six). The virus is similar to hand, foot and mouth disease.

The inquest was told that Zach had fallen asleep on the sofa in the afternoon and had been hot.

His mum had given him some Calpol and he had become cold and shivery but his temperature had settled by about 8pm.

He went to bed as normal and Mrs Crozier, who has an older son called Ryan and a younger daughter called Alexa, checked on him later and raised the alarm.

The inquest was told that Zach had suffered from chicken pox in 2011 and had been quite slow to recover. His family said he had been prone to infections after that.

Mrs Crozier said: “Zach was always quick. He was crawling at eight months and had started to string words together to form sentences.

“He was a happy young boy and he doted on his brother and sister. He wasn’t jealous – he was happy and smiley.

“He’d always been quite fit and he was as strong as an ox.”

David Roberts, coroner for north and west Cumbria, said: “This is a tragic case.

“Zach was a healthy young boy and he was well cared for. We had a very nice bedroom full of nice toys. He caught this infection and he could not fight it off.”

Mr Roberts recorded a verdict of natural causes.

Speaking to the News & Star after the inquest, Mr and Mrs Crozier said: “We are absolutely devastated losing our little boy Zach.

“He was a beautiful, happy, funny boy and we feel his loss every minute of every day.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the emergency services involved with special thanks to the police, Nikki Armstrong and our family and friends who have been amazing and supportive throughout.”

First published at 13:23, Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk