'We’re fighting to ensure his memory': Family seek answers as inquest opens into baby's death in Leeds
‘Our son Curtis Jax was only with us for two weeks, but he was loved immensely and brought so much joy to our lives’
A family whose baby boy died at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) just two weeks after he was born are seeking answers as an inquest into his death opens in Wakefield.
Curtis Jax Emmens was born on April 1, 2025, at LGI to Chloe Emmens and Jamie Oxtoby. He suffered several health issues, including Down Syndrome, from birth and tragically died at the hospital just two weeks later, on April 15.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post in the hours after the opening of the inquest at Wakefield Coroner’s Court, Chloe said she is trying to balance her grief with the need to find out what happened to her son.
Curtis was born with complex medical needs and his death was initially treated as being from natural causes, with no inquest held at the time.
The hospital’s death certificate referred to sepsis, and the coroner’s original cause of death recorded multiple organ failure alongside his underlying conditions, Chloe said.
But Chloe and her family, of Scarborough, said they were left with unanswered questions.
The full inquest is expected to examine the circumstances of his death.
For Chloe and her family, they are determined that Curtis is remembered as a much‑loved baby boy, not just a name in official documents.
Despite his short life, they said Curtis had already begun to show personality in the neonatal ward.
“He was a baby. Even in them two weeks, you start seeing a little personality,” Chloe said. “He was holding his big sister’s finger when she went in to see him. He used to kick his legs. He opened his eyes - he looked at us.”
Those small moments have become the memories the family cling to as they wait for answers.
“We’ll never move on, but maybe just a little bit of closure,” Chloe said.
Curtis’s grandmother Marie added: “We’re just fighting now to ensure his memory.”
In a personal tribute, the family wrote: "Our son Curtis Jax was only with us for two weeks, but he was loved immensely and brought so much joy to our lives. He already had his own beautiful little personality he loved having his head stroked, and he would kick his legs and wave his arms whenever we were near.
“His older sister, Olivia, would come to the hospital to hold his hand and talk to him. He knew her voice so well and would turn his head just to look at her. We were so looking forward to his future, and we are fighting now to ensure his memory is honoured with the absolute truth."
Acting Senior Coroner Oliver Longstaff opened and adjourned the inquest into Curtis’s death at Wakefield Coroner’s Court on Thursday (September 3).
During the opening statement, the court heard that Curtis Jax Emmens, born April 1, 2025, at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), died at 7.41am on April 15.
A post‑mortem recorded the cause of death as multiple organ failure with severe congenital cardiac anomalies and hydrops fetalis, moderate prematurity and Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).
A full inquest will take place at a later date.