The parents of a beautiful four-week-old baby boy who died due to complications of whooping cough have released heartbreaking footage of their son as he struggled to breathe in the days before his death.

Greg and Catherine Hughes’ son Riley Hughes was just 32 days old when he succumbed to his illness.

Almost a year after his tragic death, Catherine has bravely shared the final intimate moments she captured of her son’s short life to show how rapidly his condition deteriorated, and to raise awareness about the vaccinations that could prevent this type of tragedy.

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Riley can be seen lightly swaddled in a blanket on the day before he was admitted to the hospital- violently coughing every couple of seconds. The mother did not know that her son had the disease at first. After noticing that his occasional cough had become more frequent, she decided to take him to a doctor, who assured her that he just had a cold.

As the clip shows, Riley’s condition worsened. His cough had developed, and the poor child struggled to breathe. Her son’s unfortunate situation encouraged the mother to research the illness and learned that mothers in America, the UK and New Zealand were being vaccinated during their pregnancy.

IMAGE SOURCE: FACEBOOK

She said the vaccines had proven to be an effective method for protecting babies from the disease before they were born, and instantly questioned why it was only an “optional recommendation” in Australia.

IMAGE SOURCE: FACEBOOK

She has since created a Facebook page in honor of her son, and works tirelessly to create change in her country.

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