A couple who considered asking Lucy Letby to be godmother to their son as a way of thanking her for supporting them when he was born prematurely now think she may have been trying to kill him.
The parents recalled how Letby, then in her mid-20s like they were, went above and beyond to help them through a difficult birth and the days after when mum and baby both needed intensive care.
But they – and everyone else at that point – were oblivious to the fact she was by then halfway through a killing spree which would end with her becoming the UK’s worst child murderer.
The boy’s mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the thought now ‘physically sickens’ her.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the couple revealed they became friendly with the neonatal nurse, who ‘took a shine’ to their son following his birth at the Countess of Chester Hospital in February 2016.
Letby, 33, was there when he was born by emergency C-section nine weeks early and weighing just 3lbs 2oz, and cared for him over the following days.
She also sent the mum a handmade card for Mother’s Day with a Polaroid photo inside showing the infant inside with his incubator with his oxygen mask and breathing tubes removed.
When they queried it, pointing out he still needed 24-hour oxygen, she allayed their concerns, saying: ‘I just thought you would like a picture of him with no tubes.’
During Letby’s trial, jurors were told she deliberately dislodged babies’ breathing tubes during attacks.
The boy’s father, a 33-year-old engineer, told the Mail: ‘We had a handmade card and we assumed everyone on the ward got one. But they didn’t, it was just us.
‘Inside was a picture of my son with no breathing equipment. She said she took it out to clean or to sterilize it. Now everything’s come to light, I should have questioned it more.’
The mum, a student nurse aged 32, recalled Letby telling her their son had been found with blood in his nappy, adding that doctors did tests but ‘couldn’t find a reason’ behind it.
She also described another nurse remarking on how ‘annoyed’ Letby was when she was allocated to look after him instead of her.
The woman told the paper she thought it was ‘lovely that people are fighting over him’, but now looking back she feels ‘very, very lucky that she didn’t have him that night’.
Her partner said their son ‘always seemed to have big dips when she was looking after him’, adding that each time he then perked up Letby ‘was this miracle worker who kept saving him’.
When he was eventually allowed to go home, Letby added the mum on Facebook and sent messages of support when she posted he had been admitted to a specialist hospital with an infection.
The boy’s dad thought their nurse had been so kind that he put her name forward when it came time to think about godparents.
He said: ‘When he was in the hospital she couldn’t do enough for us. She kept in contact, I thought she was taking a real interest in his life, so I thought, why not include her in his life?’
Knowing what she knows now, the mum says: ‘It just really sickens me. She was so manipulative with us, so nice, kind and caring. It would be easier to really, really hate her if she hadn’t been like that.’
She told the newspaper they have been in contact with the police over their concerns, and have been reassured detectives are looking into their case.
Letby was told she would never be released from prison when she was sentenced last week for the murders of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six more between 2015 and 2016.
Cheshire Police have said they are continuing to review the care of some 4,000 babies who were admitted to the Countess of Chester, and also at Liverpool Women’s Hospital when Letby had two work placements, during her employment from 2012.
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