Mum’s agony as baby found dead at Brisbane family daycare

The mother of a little boy who died at a Brisbane daycare facility on Monday has shared her heartbreak, with agonising detail about the final moment she saw her son. Warning: Confronting

Riley Ma died at a home in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs on Monday afternoon.

The grieving parents of a baby boy who died at a Brisbane daycare facility on Monday say they are struggling with the loss of their son.

Emergency services were called to an address in Wakerley in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs where the baby was found dead about 3.30pm on Monday.

Police are investigating the circumstances into the boy’s death.

Riley Ma was dropped off at the child care centre just after 7.30am, with the one-year-old reportedly in a nice and happy mood when he was dropped off at the day care centre, run by a local family.

By the afternoon, Riley’s father received a message from the care taker advising that “something bad has happened” and asked for him to come over.

According to a close friend of the family, Katrina Zhang, an ambulance had already arrived by the time the father got there.

“The dad got there fairly quickly and found that Riley wasn’t responding,” Ms Zhang said.

“The ambulance were already there and they were trying to do what they could to resuscitate him.

“They tried for a while and then just declared he’s already gone, there’s no point taking him to hospital.”

Photo of baby Riley Ma who died in a family daycare home in Wakerley.

Ms Zhang said it appeared that Riley struggled in his final moments.

“Riley was all purple on his lips and then his fist was so tight, obviously he was struggling before his last breath,” she said.

“It is devastating for the family.”

Riley’s mother told The Courier-Mail she is struggling to deal with the loss of her only child.

“He’s our only one baby, he’s our hope,” she said.

“Me and my husband cherished our baby very much.

“He’s my everything.”

The 36-year-old said she wasn’t allowed to cradle her son when she arrived at the scene.

“They said to my husband, you can give him a cuddle and my husband gave him a cuddle tightly,” she said.

“When I arrived, the police already arrived before me, so they didn’t allow me to touch my baby, didn’t allow me to kiss my baby, didn’t allow me to give him a cuddle.

“So I didn’t do anything at all.”

The Chinese national said she couldn’t bring herself to tell her mother, who has cancer, about the loss of her grandson.

“She is at the fourth stage of cancer and Riley is her hope,” she said.

“I don’t dare to tell her the truth, I just tell her Riley is sick.

“But I know finally my mum is going to know what happened.

“I can’t drink, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I just miss my little boy.”

Originally published as Mum’s agony as baby found dead at Brisbane family daycare