Inquest hears emotional testimony from foster parents

An inquest into the 2009 death of a Regina-area three-year-old boy has heard emotional testimony from the child's foster parents.

The foster mother, who along with the child and the foster father can't be named under a publication ban, told the Regina inquest that she found the boy in his crib not breathing on the morning of Dec. 17, 2009.

In the days before, she said, the boy had been sick. He had fallen down the stairs and had been throwing up.

After the woman found the boy, paramedics were called.

"I went over and touched him and he was cold. He had some purple around his mouth and I was pretty sure he was dead," the foster mother said.

The first paramedic on the scene said the boy had droplets of blood by his mouth.

Also testifying was the foster father, who wept as he recalled tucking the boy into bed the night before.

"When I was putting him to bed, for the first time since he'd been in our home, he gave me a hug and a kiss," the man said.

The inquest heard that at the family's home about 30 kilometres west of Regina there were six children, including three foster children and three who were adopted.  

During testimony on Tuesday, a forensic pathologist said the boy died of pneumonia in both lungs that spread to his chest cavity.

The boy would have had at least a 90 per cent chance of survival had he made it to hospital for treatment, the pathologist said.

The inquest can make findings on how the child died, but cannot assign blame.

The jury can also make recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.