Australian Baby Dies Just Days After Parents Ask for Return of Stolen Photo-Filled Phone

An undated stock photo of a mother holding a baby. Echo Grid/Unsplash

An 11-month-old girl died in an Australian hospital just days after one of her parent’s phones was stolen. The phone apparently had a number of family photos, and her parents are desperately searching for it.

Amiyah Windross’s father, Jay, said that the girl’s “last hours were spent peacefully and calmly, cuddling in Mummy’s and Dady’s arms [sic],” reported 7News.

He said that Amiyah, of Melbourne, “fought undiagnosed neurological issues from the day she was born” but said her “strength, courage, and her unrelenting fight was on display from her first breath.”

According to 7News, tens of thousands of Australians are now looking for the phone after it was allegedly stolen during a shopping trip.

Her parents said that the phone has hundreds of photos of the child, and no backup is available. “We have also tried multiple ways of backups to retrieve the photos, none have worked,” Dee, Amiyah’s mother, was quoted by News.com.au as saying.

They are offering a cash reward for anyone who can locate the phone with the priceless photos.

“As incredibly empty as we are feeling right now, we are relieved that Amiyah is no longer in any more pain or distress. Although this came on quite suddenly, Dee and I noticed a regress [sic] recently and we’ve been mentally aware that this day would come at any time,” Jay Windross also stated, reported the Daily Mail.

He continued: “Amiyah knew how much we loved her and in return, we knew how much she loved us. We could tell in her gaze whenever she looked at us.”

He said it has been very challenging over the past 11 months.

“Amiyah has given us more courage and strength than we ever knew possible. She pushed us to our limits constantly, but we continuously found ways to push them further,” the Mail quoted Windross as saying. “Amiyah turned our relationship and home into a family and we will forever be grateful that she chose us as parents.”

Regarding the reward, he said there will be “no questions asked” and “no grudge held” if the phone is returned.

“We beg you as grieving parents not to wipe the phone. This phone holds the memories of what little life our daughter has had,” he said. “If you want the phone, we’re more than happy to arrange to meet, we'll copy the photos off the phone and you can keep the phone. What is on the phone is worth more than anything in our life.”

Her parents are looking for a Samsung Galaxy S8 with a purple cover, the Herald-Sun reported.

The phone can be handed to Monash Children’s Hospital’s information desk or to a local police station.

Amiyah’s cause of death is not clear.

SIDS

A number of U.S. government websites recommend that babies sleep on their backs for the first months of their lives so as to reduce the risk of SIDS.

“Babies are at risk of SIDS only until they are 1 year old. Most SIDS deaths occur when babies are between 1 month and 4 months of age. SIDS is not a health concern for babies older than 1 year of age,” the U.S. National Institutes of Health says.

“Babies should be placed on their backs until 12 months of age. Older infants may not stay on their backs all night long, and that’s OK. Once babies consistently roll over from front to back and back to front, it’s fine for them to be in the sleep position they choose. There’s no need to use positioners, wedges, and other devices that claim to reduce the risk of SIDS,” the KidsHealth website also says.

Experts disagree about whether babies should sleep with a parent in the same bed.

James McKenna, a biological anthropologist at Notre Dame University, said his research suggests that babies who are breastfed have the best outcomes if they sleep with their parents or a parent, describing it as “breastsleeping,” USA Today reported.

He said it helps the child regulate its metabolism, blood pressure, and temperature, and that “the baby’s habitat is the mother’s body.”

Jay Gordon, a pediatrician in Los Angeles, told USA Today that he believes co-sleeping is safer than sleeping alone.

“It makes mothering unpardonably harder when you tell a mother that she can’t rest when the baby rests,” he said.