Tower block fall baby making 'miraculous' progress

Police cars and other vehicles are parked outside a tower block. A police cordon is stretched across part of the scene and a small number of officers stand around it. Image source, Supplied
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Emma Atkinson died after falling from a ninth floor window in Leeds on 22 October

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A baby girl born after her mother fell to her death from the ninth floor of a tower block has been discharged from hospital.

The infant was delivered by C-section after her heavily pregnant mother, Emma Atkinson, died falling from a flat in Shakespeare Towers, in the Burmantofts area of Leeds on 22 October.

A court was told the baby, who had been in a critical condition, had made "miraculous" progress and was now being bottle fed rather than tube fed, as a result of her improving condition.

The court heard the child, who was discharged on Monday, had "improved to a far greater extent than anyone dared to hope".

Image source, Facebook
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Emma Atkinson, 38, was visiting her father at a block of flats in Leeds at the time of her death, the inquest heard last month

Documents presented to the court said the baby's recovery was "both unexpected and much welcomed".

However, they said the impact of "any brain damage" suffered by the girl would be need to be assessed following the "passage of time".

Ms Atkinson, a mother-of-five, had been in the late stages of pregnancy at the time of her death, West Yorkshire Police confirmed following the incident.

An inquest into her death opened on 30 October and will be reopened at a later date.

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