Parents shine light on sudden unexplained death in childhood

Frankie Grogan, a pupil at Cobbs Infant and Nursery School in Appleton, was found unresponsive in bed by mum Sarah and dad James in May 2019.

He was only three years old at the time and was described as a happy and healthy youngster, full of energy, fun and love.

Since then, Sarah and James set up the Friends of Frankie charity in the hope of funding further research into sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC).

To mark SUDC awareness month, they wish to spread Frankie’s story far and wide in the hope of making similar tragedies a much rarer occurrence.

“I want to shine a light on sudden unexplained death in childhood by telling Frankie’s story,” said Sarah, who works a teacher at Cobbs Infant and Nursery School.

“I know Frankie’s legacy is to save children in the future, and I know that there is a long road ahead in researching why these tragedies happen.

“Awareness of SUDC is one of the big steps forward to hopefully making it predictable and preventable.

“What happened to Frankie is every parents’ worst nightmare, and I tell his story in the hope that it spreads far and wide.

"No parent should put their healthy child to bed and wake up in this nightmare.”

On the evening of May 18, 2019, Frankie was put to bed as normal. However, he could not be woken by his parents the next morning.

He was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but sadly he could not be saved.

Both Frankie and his parents spent time in the bereavement centre at the hospital, and they described the care and support offered to them as 'incredible'.

Since the creation of Friends of Frankie, £10,000 has been raised for the centre, which provides emotional and practical support for parents who find themselves in the horrific circumstance of losing a child.

Frankie James Grogan

Now Sarah and James, who live in Altrincham, have turned their fundraising efforts to SUDC UK charity, which aims to make sudden unexplained death in childhood predictable and preventable.

“In the months after he fell asleep, we started Friends of Frankie to raise money for the incredible Alder Hey bereavement centre,” Sarah added.

“We could not have been looked after any better, and the care myself and Frankie's dad James received from the staff there was unbelievable.

“They have guided us down this very dark road every step of the way and continue to support us all this time later.

“Our fundraising efforts have turned to SUDC UK, which is so important as we have to find out how and why this happens.

“In time, Friends of Frankie will be branching out to provide parents access to paediatric first aid courses.

“It's time for our little boy Frankie James to change the world and influence the future in his way.”

During SUDC awareness month, families will be sharing information about SUDC and their children and completing acts of kindness in their memory.

SUDC often occurs in seemingly healthy children during sleep, and 40 children in England and Wales die every year without reason.

Awareness of SUDC is incredibly limited, and the first time people learn about it is often following the death of a child – even for doctors and other medical professionals.

SUDC UK has already brought together more than 50 bereaved families, granted £128,000 to research to help prevent deaths in the future and educated more than 1,000 professionals.

You can help this month by following SUDC UK on social media, using #SUDCAwareness and visiting sudc.org.uk

You can also follow Friends of Frankie via facebook.com/friendsoffrankieFJG/