Dom Sage woke up to find his son Mason not breathing (Picture: John Myers)
A ‘well loved’ new born baby died suddenly whilst his parents slept beside him.
Mason Sage, who was 11-weeks-old, was found ‘not breathing’ by his dad, Dom Sage, in September 2021.
The infant was lying between his parents in bed with dry blood under his eye and nose.
Mr Sage said: ‘I then opened his mouth and started breathing through his mouth and nose but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get any air into him.
‘It was like blowing into a wall. The ambulance control room confirmed what I was doing was correct and they continued telling me what to do over the phone.’
The 29-year-old said he woke up his partner and Mason’s mum, Emily Owen, who called paramedics to their house in Bridgend at 6.35am.
One medic told Pontypridd Coroners’ Court it was difficult to open Mason’s airway due to what appeared to be early rigor mortis in the baby’s jaw.
Mason was taken to the Princess of Wales hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7.10am.
Emily Owens called paramedics to try and save her son (Picture: John Myers)
The court heard the couple had always been careful when sleeping with Mason, including making sure he was on his back with now pillows near him and blankets away from his face.
Ms Owens said: ‘Mason mainly slept in the bed. He did go in the cot sometimes, which was right next to me. He woke up once at around 1am and I gave him a bottle.
‘I put him in our bed and moved the cushions to the bottom of the bed and put him in the middle of us and he settled.
‘In the morning Dom said Mason wasn’t breathing. I was in shock and screaming and Dom started to do CPR on him and I was giving instructions from the ambulance service.’
The inquest concluded Mason died from ‘sudden unexplained death’ (Picture: John Myers)
Mason had also been ‘struggling’ with the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, and had spent some of the day before ‘screaming in paint’ and ‘sleeping for long periods of time’.
Ms Owens had become so concerned she had set an alarm for the next morning so she could ring the doctors.
Pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter told the inquest he found no sign of illness or injury externally on Mason’s body.
Further internal examinations revealed Mason had an intra alveolar haemorrhage meaning some blood was found on his lungs.
The couple have said they will not sleep with their new seven-month-old baby in their bed (Picture: John Myers)
‘This raises concerns over whether there was an obstruction of the airways,’ Dr Leadbeatter said, adding the condition has also been observed in young children when airway obstruction hasn’t been present.
He concluded an ‘unexplained sudden death in infancy’.
‘It’s one of those things sadly where sometimes we don’t know what the explanation is,’ he said.
The couple welcomed a new baby, Evie, seven months ago, who they said will never sleep in their bed.
Mr Sage said the couple still feel as though their questions haven’t been answered. ‘We waited for two years and it dragged on and basically we’ve got no answers and we will never know what really caused Mason’s death. We were obviously hoping for a cause.
‘There will always be a hole in our lives now but Evie has arrived and she’s given us so much comfort.’
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‘No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get any air into him.’