The parents of a baby who died after choking at a nursery have launched a foundation to help provide schools with life-saving equipment.

Lewis and Zoe Steeper set up the Oliver Steeper Foundation in honour of their son who passed away after his windpipe became blocked in September 2021.

The nine-month-old was being looked after at Jelly Beans Day Nursery in Kingsnorth, Ashford, when he suddenly became unable to breathe while eating. He died six days later at Evelina London Children's Hospital.

Mr and Mrs Steeper say LifeVac anti-choking devices can save lives – they have first-hand experience after using one on their 11-month-old when he started struggling for breath.

Their new charity aims to donate LifeVacs to all Ofsted registered nurseries, pre-schools, and childminders in Kent.

Mr Steeper said: “It's an amazing bit of kit, and it's so simple to use, and it's so effective.

“Once we've looked at schools, preschools and nurseries – which is where we are now – we'll move to junior schools, senior schools and care homes.

“Wherever there's a human there's a possibility of choking, so these devices need to go everywhere.”

The LifeVac is a non-invasive device which uses vacuum pressure to remove an object from a person’s windpipe.

At an official launch for the foundation at Little Acorns Pre School in Ashford on Tuesday, the couple told how they had already used the device to save the life of their 11-month-old, Jake.

Mr Steeper recounted how the baby’s face had turned grey after he choked on some Calpol in December.

The father quickly grabbed a LifeVac, assembled it and used it to remove the medicine from Jake’s airway.

Mrs Steeper said: “Thankfully, he started breathing again and regained his colour – it was phenomenal.

“We never thought we would be the ones that would be using it. However, it's shown us just how simple it is to use, and it's kind of added even more of a personal touch to this now.

“It's made it real and it's given us a drive now to carry on doing this and make sure every child is hopefully protected from when first aid has failed and in a choking emergency, they get another shot.”

LifeVac Europe director Matt Banigan says the device has been used to save 1,651 lives, including more than 1,000 children’s lives.

He said: “Lewis and Zoe are trying to help save lives, and I'm honoured to be along that journey and help save as many lives as possible.

“The aim for the foundation is to cover all the schools and nurseries across Kent, and then once that's completed, to go all the way across the UK.”

At a pre-inquest review into Oliver’s death in November, coroner Katrina Hepburn said that 15-17 witnesses would give evidence over a two-week hearing, set for May 2024 at Oakwood House, Maidstone.

As well as the Jelly Beans staff, Mr and Mrs Steeper will give evidence, as will another parent of a child at the nursery, a doctor who treated Oliver including carrying out a bronchoscopy to look at his airways, and a representative from education watchdog Ofsted.

Ms Hepburn previously said the inquest will cover the background of Oliver’s “developmental stage, particularly regarding his feeding, to understand what on that day he could eat”.

Additional reporting by Oliver Leader de Saxe