‘Nightmare’ of pair wrongly accused of harming their baby
A COUPLE accused of seriously injuring their baby have been reunited with her after it emerged she has a rare condition which causes “easy bruising”.
Craig Stillwell and Carla Andrews, both 23, endured an eight-month nightmare after Effie, then just three months old, suffered a bleed on the brain.
Despite her parents raising concerns over her health with doctors 17 times, Effie was taken into emergency foster care and Craig was arrested on suspicion of harming her.
The couple, from Aylesbury, Bucks, were questioned over her injuries and only allowed to see Effie a couple of times a week under close supervision.
Horror
She has finally been allowed to return home after experts found Effie has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), which causes her arteries to rupture.
They were cleared at Milton Keynes family court last Wednesday. Judge Karen Venables said the family had experienced “unimaginable horror”.
Craig, a landscape gardener, said: “We’ve been to hell and back fighting to get Effie back. It’s been every parent’s nightmare.
“Being accused of hurting your baby when you love them more than anything is excruciating. We’re just so relieved to clear our names and be a family again.”
After Effie, now 11 months old, was born premature last May, the couple repeatedly took her back to nearby Stoke Mandeville Hospital. They were worried Effie was often sick and slept for hours. But doctors said she was okay.
On August 15, Effie suffered a seizure in Craig’s arms and they went to A&E.
However, this time doctors suspected she had been shaken. They told police and Buckinghamshire County Council social services and Effie was put into care. “They spoke to us like we were monsters”, said Craig.
Carla researched Effie’s symptoms online – thin, translucent skin, easy bruising, vascular and arterial rupture – and came across EDS. Experts then found she had the condition.
A council spokesman said yesterday: “Our decisions in social care cases draw evidence from multiple sources. Appropriate action is then taken to achieve the best outcome for the child.”