The family of a 12-month-old child who died while in the care of Cavan General Hospital over two years ago has said his death could have been prevented and they will "never be the same family ever again".
A verdict of medical misadventure was returned at the inquest of baby Luke Kelly, who died at the hospital in July 2023.
Speaking after the inquest, his mother Helena Lyons said Luke was "our precious little warrior who fought time and time again to come home to us".
"We are so proud of him. We feel that poor Luke was let down on so many levels," she said.
Yesterday at the inquest, the hospital offered an apology to Luke's mother and his father Barry Kelly from Shantemon, Co Cavan, over what it described as the "shortcomings in the care" that their son had received.
Ms Lyons said the apology from the hospital "means nothing" to the family unless it sees "immediate improvements in protocols in Cavan General Hospital".
"This should never have happened to our son, and we should not be standing here today.
"We expect and hope that they have learned from their mistakes. We want this to never happen to another family. Luke's death could have been prevented.
"Luke deserves so much more, and that should be Luke Kelly's legacy. Luke will be forever remembered and loved by his family," Ms Lyons added.

Delivering the verdict earlier, coroner for Co Cavan Dr Mary Flanagan said medical misadventure was the only option available to her based on the evidence heard over the past two days.
Dr Flanagan said this evidence was reflective of the "admitted and acknowledged" deficiencies in management that had been identified at Cavan General Hospital.
The coroner also attached a number of recommendations to her verdict, including that an overarching national policy be introduced to ensure that intubation difficulties in patients be highlighted by "super hospitals" to "feeder hospitals".
The coroner also said that such "feeder hospitals" should introduce their own policies for highlighting this amongst their own staff, be that in writing or electronically.
Dr Flanagan also recommended that each and every doctor needs to be educated in their mandatory hospital escalation guidelines (PEWS) and what procedures to follow should a child's condition deteriorate to a significant level, and that a child’s complex past medical history should also be factored into these guidelines.
The coroner also accepted the medical evidence of the pathologist that the cause of death was severe acute double pneumonia.
The second day of the inquest was told that the outcome for baby Luke Kelly could have been different had he been in a "tertiary hospital" when his condition deteriorated.

Dr Ann Leahy, the most senior person responsible for Luke’s care, said that in hindsight, she regretted keeping Luke at Cavan Hospital the day before he died.
The consultant paediatrician, who has been the Clinical Lead for the Department of Paediatrics at Cavan General Hospital since 2021, was present at the inquest this morning.
In her deposition, Dr Leahy said: "In hindsight, I regret keeping Luke in Cavan on 4 July 2023. At that time, I felt he was stable, less ill than on his previous admission in February 2023. He had his corrective surgery since February also."
"His outcome could have been different if he had been in a tertiary hospital when he deteriorated," she added.
Luke was described by his parents, as a "courageous little hero" who was the most "beautiful, smiley, placid child that any parent could ask for."
The inquest previously heard that Luke had Shone’s syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect, and he underwent major surgery at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin on two occasions.
Luke had his second operation at Crumlin in April 2023 and the following month, he was discharged and allowed home.
The inquest was told that, at this stage, the medical staff at Crumlin were happy with his prognosis and recovery, and he would not have to be seen again for another six months.
The family said they were told to go to their local hospital should any further problems arise.
In the months that followed, Luke picked up several respiratory viruses, and he was brought to the Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) at Cavan General Hospital on a number of occasions.
The inquest into Luke’s death was centred around establishing the circumstances that led to his condition deteriorating at Cavan General Hospital over a five-day period beginning on 1 July 2023.
The inquest heard that Luke went 18 hours without a physical examination by a consultant at the hospital despite his condition deteriorating.
The coroner was also told that the Cavan General Hospital had no formal afternoon handover process in place at the time.
The inquest at Cavan Courthouse heard from a total of 17 witnesses over the two days.
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