THE mum of a baby who was one of the victims of the Alder Hey organ scandal said this week that she was ready to make a fresh start after receiving £5,000 compensation.

Wendy Bury, 41, said she now wanted to put the case behind her after it was announced that more than 800 parents had accepted a £5m out-of-court settlement and an official apology.

Her one-year-old son, Carl Broderick, died at the Liverpool children's hospital 20 years ago following a failed operation to repair a hole in his heart.

But 18 years after his death it was revealed that the hospital had kept the organs of hundreds of dead children - including Carl's heart, windpipe and oesophagus - and Wendy, of Union Road, Oswaldtwistle, joined more than 1,000 other parents in a legal battle.

That culminated in the settlement package which, it is believed, also includes a memorial to the dead children.

Wendy, who has three other children, Della, 19, Kiel, 17, and Cherry, 14, said: "I wasn't bothered about the money, as it's not going to right what they've done wrong, but I am glad to get it out of the way.

"A certain percentage of us had to say yes for the settlement to actually go through, and as it was being offered just before Christmas we thought it was a chance for us to start afresh. It has been a lot for my children to go through.

"Kiel is due to join the Royal Marines soon. He went through a stage when he didn't want to leave me because of Carl but it's settled now and I'm very proud of him."

Wendy, who works as a nursery nurse, said she had suffered stress-related health problems as a result of the case and some of the money was being put towards her private healthcare, with the rest going to her children.

She added that she still did not feel she had got justice for Carl as the doctor who treated him, Frenchman Jean-Marie Bouton, was too ill to be interviewed as part of the inquiry into the scandal.

She said: "It sounds awful, but before all this I would have quite readily donated my children's organs - they carried donor cards - but I wouldn't think about it now.

"As much as they say it would never happen, it is always in the back of your mind. You lose faith and it's a horrible way to be.

"But we have to put a full stop on it and as a family put it behind us."

After the scandal was discovered a poignant second funeral was held for Carl at Immanuel Church, Oswaldtwistle - on what would have been his 18th birthday - and a casket containing his missing organs was lowered into the ground.

The family also gathered at the cemetery last September to drink a champagne toast to mark Carl's 21st birthday, and a corner of the family living room is dedicated to him.