I told Thomas Wake up, it's baby day..he didn't respond

Father, 40, may have lived if heart defect was not missed by medics, says inquest

- LYDIA VELJANOVSKI

Tomorrow it will be Harper Moss's first birthday and her family plans to throw her a little party at home in their garden to celebrate.

There will be balloons, cake and presents but the event will be tainted with sadness because it will also be exactly a year since her dad, Thomas Gibson passed away aged 40.

On June 7, 2023, just a few hours before Rebecca Moss, 37, was scheduled to give birth to Harper via elected Caesarean, she came downstairs to find her partner of seven years lying dead on the sofa.

Sitting in her home in Manchester - which is filled with pictures of Tom and toys for their daughter PR director Rebecca tears up as she recalls the day that changed her life for ever.

She says: "I woke up about 5.15am. I went downstairs to let the dog out. Tom was asleep on the couch. I went over to him saying, "Wake up, it's baby day'. He didn't respond. So I went over to the couch to give him a kiss."

That was when Rebecca realised he wasn't breathing and rang 999. And despite her best efforts to give him CPR, she could do nothing.

He had suffered a cardiac death just hours before Harper was born. And this tragedy would soon be compounded by the fact that his death could have been prevented.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has since admitted that it gave negligent medical care. And yesterday, following a two-day inquest at Stockport coroner's court, coroner Christopher Morris concluded Tom died as a consequence of sudden cardiac death due to myocardial fibrosis.

The inquest heard that had his heart defect not been missed on a hospital scan, he may have lived.