An inquest heard that a young boy, then four months old, died while resting in a pod on his parents’ bed. The body of Leonidas Ramsden, who was born on December 25, 2021, was discovered on April 28, 2022, at his Buckfastleigh, Devon, home.
Since his terrible death, his family has been searching for answers; an inquest has provided them. A statement made at the Plymouth inquest said that Leonidas was “fed and placed in a sleeping pod upstairs on his parents’ bed.”
The inquest report states there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the discovery of his lifeless body by his parents the next morning. There was no way to find out what killed them, not even with an autopsy.
While this inquest did provide some answers for Leonidas’ loved ones, a more thorough investigation at a later time is warranted. As questions about the safety of sleeping pods grow, we don’t know the kind or brand Leonidas used, according to the Daily Mail.
In 2017, several stores in the United Kingdom pulled the pod beds off their shelves owing to safety concerns. The Lullaby Trust, a well-known children’s charity, has issued a public warning to parents in the form of an open letter, advising them against using “cushioned sleeping pods, nests, baby hammocks, cot bumpers, pillows, duvets, and anything that wedges or straps a baby in place” for infants younger than 12 months.
The risk of SIDS may be increased by placing a baby to sleep on anything other than a flat, hard surface or by using thick, soft bedding. If a baby rolls over and the blanket covers their face, they risk suffocation or overheating.
Akita, Leonidas’ mother, set up a GoFundMe to collect money for a funeral and memorial service after he passed away. She wrote of being ‘devastated and lost’ following her son’s death.
She said that the group was “devastated and lost,” with the sensation that they were living in another universe. Never again will we feel whole. My age is now 21. I am the proud mother of two lovely, healthy children. Azaylea, my daughter, and Leonidas-Aurelius, my son. The minute I met them, we were instantly in love…
Our son Leonidas-Aurelius turned over in the middle of the night when he was four months and three days old. He didn’t scream, didn’t stir, but quietly drifted off to sleep with a gentle grin on his face.
When my boyfriend and I woke up following a two-hour snooze. The most shattering and horrifying truth we had to confront was that the ideal soul, Leonidas-Aurelius, had departed from the exquisite vehicle we had made.
