THE GRIEVING family of tragic Southampton baby Lewis Adams have opened their hearts about the night their "smiling little angel" died.

The bath chair he had been sitting in tipped over, plunging little Lewis into the water.

When his frantic parents pulled him out, they discovered he was no longer breathing.

It was the start of the worst night of their lives, which would finish in them coming home without him.

IN THE Thornhill flat where just days ago baby Lewis Robert Adams played happily with the toys that now litter the floor untouched, his mourning parents remember their "smiling little angel".

None of his loving family can quite believe the 11-month-old youngster and his characteristic "dirty" laugh have been snatched away from them.

Baby Lewis's home in Tatwin Crescent is a place in shock.

Lewis's loving grandmother Michelle Young said: "It is unthinkable. We all thought we had so much time, but we didn't. We had no time."

The run-up to a happy family Christmas was ripped apart when his mum Kelly, 18, found him in his bath chair floating face down in the water.

She had only turned her back for a couple of seconds to fetch his towel, but to her horror, when she fished him out of the water his chest was still.

Dad Gary Adams, 36, who is on incapacity benefit, retells the tragic sequence of events.

"Kelly took him in for his bath and forgot his towel. As she went back to get his towel - a matter of three or four feet, the bath chair had tipped up and kept him under the water.

"The coroner said he died instantaneously, not like an adult. I couldn't understand how it was so fast but the coroner said when he hit the water his brain just stopped.

"Kelly screamed and I grabbed him and found he wasn't breathing. I tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and massaged his chest and back.

"Kelly got the phone and was shouting 'Get me an ambulance, my baby's not breathing'. I didn't know what to do. I grabbed him and said 'Tell them I'm going to Hightown Ambulance Station'."

But to the couple's horror, when they arrived there was no paramedic on site, just two men from the service's Patient Transfer Team who had only basic first aid training.

Both Kelly and Gary have nothing but praise for their efforts.

"I ran straight in and said 'He's not breathing - save him'. The two fellows in there were second to none," said Gary. "They did their best. One tried to resuscitate him and both were shaking. It was the first time they had ever been faced with a baby who was not breathing."

Lewis was soon rushed to hospital, but the best efforts of medical staff could not save him.

Even after he died, there were Southampton General Hospital staff who went above and beyond the call of duty.

Kelly said: "There was a nurse - her name was Kirsty. There are no words that can explain how good she was. She stood there and supported me. She got us extra blankets because I was telling her Lewis didn't like the cold and she made sure he had all his teddies and his toys. She did more than her job."

It was while Kelly was still coming to terms with the news little Lewis was gone, that the police moved in. But in their desire to find out what happened, they made a terrible situation much worse, say the family.

Kelly was subjected to a two-hour interview and friends and family were also quizzed at length.

Kelly's mum Michelle said: "They made her feel like she had something to hide.

"They need a procedure which is more sensitive. It was awful."

Gary said: "It was a tragic accident with Lewis. But if you think of people whose babies have died in situations where it's not so clear cut such as cot death, it must be terrible."

Meanwhile, the family has been touched by the outpouring of emotion from the Thornhill community where baby Lewis' ssmiling face was well known.

Gary said: "I was so proud of Lewis and we want him to be named in the media. He touched so many people. He was always smiling, even if he was ill and he was never unhappy. Everyone that knew him talked about his smile.

"He was daddy's little man."

Michelle said: "He was known by so many people and they have been fantastic, especially all the youngsters. They have been writing poems and local kids have raised £45 to buy flowers for him."

In their grief, the family are comforted by memories of a happy child.

Kelly said: "He was a smiling angel, just a little angel. Everybody only ever had good words to say about him because he was smiling. Always smiling."

Lewis's funeral, which is open to all who knew him, is to take place at St Christopher's Church, on Pepys Road, at 1pm on Friday, December 27.