Whooping cough death: Parents of baby Riley speak out

The grieving parents of a baby who died of whooping cough have spoken out in the hope their son's death was not in vain.

At just four weeks old, baby Riley contracted the highly-contagious Pertussis, otherwise known as whooping cough, an infection that can kill.

When Riley developed a cough, his parents, Catherine and Greg Hughes, rushed him to hospital.

They thought they were over-reacting to what was probably just a minor cold, but suddenly their newborn was fighting for life.

"This might sound silly but even when we took him to hospital, we thought we were being overly cautious," Greg said.

"He was a healthy baby boy with a little cough, like a really minor cough."

Recalling the painful final hours with his son, Greg said: "I felt I'd failed my son.

"It's such a cruel disease," added Catherine. "He was hooked up to so many wires and tubes.

"Then we made one of the toughest decisions of our life," Greg added.

"He passed away in our arms."

As Greg, Catherine and big sister, Olivia grieve, they are also determined to make sure Riley's life, however short, leaves a lasting legacy - and it has.

Governments in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have introduced free whooping cough vaccinations for women in their third trimester of pregnancy, to give babies, like Riley, too young to be immunised against whopping cough, their best chance.

"If we'd insisted on a third trimester booster while I was pregnant, perhaps he would have received antibodies that would have saved his life," Catherine said.

Greg and Catherine know that telling their story won't bring their little boy back but it could prevent other families suffering such a huge loss.

"We want this to be a permanent initiative, because no child in this country should have to die from a preventable disease," Greg said.

"No parent should have to go through what we're going through at the moment because it's horrible."

• Visit Light for Riley Facebook page.