Eight-month-old baby girl died in her cot after cord from a balloon got caught around her neck 


Eight-month-old baby girl died in her cot after cord from a balloon tied up within her reach got caught around her neck

  • Baby Malaysia Kaylia Lamour died after a balloon wrapped around her neck 
  • Bolton Coroner’s Court recorded the eight-month-old’s death as accidental 
  • Coroner Dr Alan Walsh said he hoped tragedy leads others to be extra vigilant

An eight-month-old baby died after the cord from a balloon which had been tied near her cot got wrapped around her neck, an inquest has heard.

Malaysia Kaylia Lamour managed to reach out of her cot and grab the line, which was tied to her parents’ bed at their home in Irlams o’ th’ Height, Salford, Greater Manchester, on February 22 2020.

The cord became tangled around her and stopped her from breathing, resulting in Malaysia’s tragic death. 

In a hearing at Bolton Coroner’s Court, area coroner Dr Alan Walsh heard that the baby was being cared for by her father, Jackenson Lamour, and her mother, Brandy Kimberley Harvey.

Neighbours described the couple as ‘wonderful parents’ who were ‘friendly and very caring to Malaysia’.

Dr Walsh, said Jackenson and Brandy seemed ‘perfect parents’ and added that he hoped others who heard about Malaysia’s tragic death would be extra vigilant around strings and other cords.

A conclusion of accidental death was recorded at Bolton Coroner's Court (pictured)

A conclusion of accidental death was recorded at Bolton Coroner’s Court (pictured)

The accident took place just after Brandy had returned to the basement apartment that the family shared.

Her partner had left for work shortly after she had come home from her own job and she decided to sit for some time with Malaysia.

However, some time after 10pm, Brandy had needed to go into their kitchen to do some washing up and she left the baby in a crib at the foot of the couple’s bed.

The kitchen was up a small set of stairs and Brandy could still hear the baby making noises and occasionally crying in the bedroom while she cleaned.

But some time later the crying stopped and, when she rushed down to see what happened, she found the balloon cord wrapped around Malaysia’s neck. Brandy immediately cut it loose and called paramedics who arrived just after midnight.

They tried desperately to resuscitate the tiny child but she was pronounced dead a short time later.

A police investigation into the incident found that there were no suspicious circumstances or evidence of first party involvement, Mr Walsh explained.

‘All the inquiries show her mother and father to be wonderful parents, they all say they were very caring to Malaysia and it seems to me they were a loving family,’ he added.

The balloon was a heart-shaped Valentines Day gift that Jackenson had got for his partner and the couple had decided to keep.

The inquest heard evidence from Dr Philip Lumb, a pathologist who performed a post-mortem examination on Malaysia.

He found that her cause of death had been compression of the neck and that is was likely she had tried to take hold of the balloon cord, before falling from either a sitting or standing position so that it became wrapped around her.

Concluding the inquest, Dr Walsh said that it was clear from the evidence that Jackeson and Brandy had been ‘perfect parents’.

He said he hoped that other parents who heard about the ‘catastrophic consequences’ of the accident would be extra vigilant around balloons strings and other cords.

‘This was a tragedy of immense proportions,’ Dr Walsh said.

‘It’s important that I say that I accept this was an enormous tragedy for Malaysia’s parents and I can’t stress enough that they seemed to be wonderful parents who loved Malaysia.

‘While nobody expects these terrible accidents to happen, they do happen, and it’s something to learn for other parents from the tragedy of Malaysia’s parents.’

He recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

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