Patents of boy, 3, who died at Stafford Hospital a step closer to truth
The parents of a three-year-old boy who died at a hospital say they are one step closer to uncovering the truth of what happened to him after their fight for a new inquest was taken to the High Court.
John Meek and April Keeling, from Cannock, dispute the findings of an original inquest which found their son Jonnie died of natural causes. They insist his death at Stafford Hospital was caused by a reaction to milk.
They have been given the green light by the Solicitor General to make an application to the High Court for a fresh inquest to re-examine the cause of Jonnie's death.
Little Jonnie, who was severely disabled, died at the scandal-hit Stafford Hospital in August 2014. He attended a pre-booked appointment to trial a new milk formula but died three hours after arriving.
His father John, 44, said the couple hoped they were closer to getting answers about what really happened.
He said: "It's great news for us; where we are at the moment. It is a big step. We have now got to go to the High Court and request for the verdict to be quashed.
"It's hard to put into words, it has been a lot of work."
John and April were left devastated by the coroner's ruling that nobody was at fault for Jonnie's death.
John said: "That conclusion was just ridiculous. When we got the conclusion of natural causes, pneumonia, it was just shocking.
"A lot of people would have said fine, you don't get a second one but we have just chased it. We could have left it but it would have been on our minds for the rest of our lives.
"Two doctors who gave care to him on the day didn't give evidence, it was bizarre. We have a doctor and a pathologist saying it was milk, it is a stronger situation than it was. Hopefully we will get the truth."
He added: "It would be nice to get closure. I don't think we will ever get full closure. We are never going to forget him, nor would we want to.
"It was an insult to him. It was bad enough what happened, then to get the inquest it was unacceptable.
"It is really good news, it's what we want but it's still a sad situation."
John and April, 31, are adamant Johnnie died from a reaction to a new milk feed put into his stomach and that warning signs including the youngster projectile vomiting were missed by staff.
