A BRIERLEY Hill couple devastated by the death of their daughter believe they are being denied the chance to repair their "broken family".

Emma and Lee George faced every parents' worst nightmare on May 29 when they woke up to find that eight-week-old Felicity had stopped breathing.

Just 12 hours before, Emma had taken Felicity to see a doctor at Russells Hall Hospital's urgent care centre as she had a temperature, wasn't feeding and was difficult to wake up.

Emma, aged 24, said: "He looked at her and took her temperature but did no other checks. He told me there was a six hour wait at A&E and said 'you look like a sensible mother, if she gets any worse bring her back tomorrow'.

"I trusted the doctor and took my daughter home, where we carried on her normal routine.

"But when we woke up the next morning, our world shattered. She had turned blue and wasn't breathing. We called an ambulance and they took her to hospital, where they did all they could, but she was gone. I have never felt so lost and broken in my life."

A post mortem revealed that Felicity had an infection called Hib influenzae - and the most likely cause of death was sepsis, caused by pneumonia.

The couple, who believe Felicity's life could have been saved if more physical checks were carried out by the medic, have lodged a complaint with Dudley CCG, which is currently being investigated.

"We don't want anyone else to go through what we have," said Emma.

After Felicity's death, Emma said they discussed the possibility of having another child, adding: "Not to replace Felicity but to try and mend our broken family."

But there was one problem - in January, when Emma was five months pregnant, 29-year-old Lee had a vasectomy.

Emma explained: "When we found out I was pregnant, it was like the final piece of the puzzle. Lee decided to get a vasectomy as our family was complete - we already have a little boy together and a boy each from previous relationships.

"You never think anything will happen to your children."

Lee put in an application to get the vasectomy reversed but was left shocked when it was refused.

"They are now saying that we don't have enough circumstances to get it reversed," Emma said.

"If our daughter was still here we would not be asking for a reversal, we would be a happy family. What other circumstances do they need?"

The couple have lodged an appeal and have also contacted Dudley South MP Mike Wood, who has also wrote to Dudley CCG, to request that "in the light of the very exceptional and unique circumstances, the decision for the NHS not to fund the reverse of the vasectomy is reconsidered".

Despite the support from Mr Wood, the couple are "less than hopeful" that their appeal will be successful so have started a JustGiving page to raise £3,500 to fund the operation and to date, 89 supporters have helped raise £1,215.

Emma wished to thank everyone who had donated, adding: "We just want to make our beautiful angel a proud big sister."

People who wish to help the couple can do so via www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emma-george.

Laura Broster, director of communication and public insight at Dudley CCG, told the News: "We would like to offer our condolences to Mrs George and her family.

"The complaints raised by the family are currently being investigated by Dudley CCG on behalf of the family and it would not be appropriate for us to comment any further."