NURSES from a hospital at the centre of a baby death investigation have been praised for keeping a premature girl alive for two and a half precious days.

Debbie Cragg has been upset by news of the suspension of two nurses and the investigation into the death of Charlie Louise Taylor, of North Street, Colne.

Baby Charlie lived for just 13 hours in the special care unit at Burnley General.

Seventeen-year-old Debbie said she wanted to publicly praise nurses who helped her when she gave birth to1lb 4oz Atlanta Patricia Houston on January 20, a day after Charlie died.

Debbie, of Rhoda Street, Nelson, who was five months pregnant said: "She whimpered when she was born, but never really cried.

"She was taken away from me and rushed to the special care unit and we were told to take each three hours at a time.

"The nurses were brilliant and kept us informed of everything that was happening to Atlanta. "We were not allowed to hold her because she was in an incubator connected to so many tubes and machines. All we could do was touch her tiny body."

When Atlanta made it through her second day, Debbie and her boyfriend Chris Houston, who works for Walter Lamberts, were optimistic.

But she says the nurses sounded a note of caution, explaining that because Atlanta was so small and her lungs were not fully developed, she was not yet in the clear.

Debbie returned home on Wednesday night and the following morning received the phone call she had been dreading.

The young parents were asked to make the heart-breaking decision to turn off Atlanta's life support machine and she died, cradled in their arms for the first and last time.

Debbie said: "It really upset me to read the papers about the nurses. I felt someone should stand up and speak for them.

"They gave me three days I might not have had with my daughter and I can't thank them enough for that."

The funerals of Charlie and Atlanta were held on the same day, January 28.

Debbie added: "My heart goes out to Charlie's parents. I feel for them a lot."

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