Michelle Tallon, 38, who was unable to speak and had suffered from cerebral palsy all her life, died on 23 July 2005, two-and-a-half weeks after she was admitted to hospital. An inquest into her death recently found that confusion amongst hospital staff led to her not being fed for three days. She died 10 days later of acute respiratory distress syndrome (Ards).

Her parents, Bernard and Bernie Tallon, told the Sunday Tribune that they fought constantly with hospital staff about Michelle's care.

"We knew things were really wrong, " said Bernie Tallon.

"We question ourselves all the time now about why we didn't take her out. I cared for her mentally and physically for 38 years, but when I took her to hospital, they let me down.

The medical profession let us all down."

Michelle was diagnosed as severely disabled when she was just a few months old and her parents brought her home from England, where they had been living, so they could be close to their families.

"When I found out, I was devastated, " recalled Tallon.

"But I was young then, only 22, and not as strong as I am now. We decided to come home and build our lives around caring for her, with the help of our family. Doctors in England wanted us to put her into residential care, but we didn't want that for her."

Instead, Michelle was brought up in Kilcock, Co Kildare, with her older sister and attended St Raphael's daycare centre from Monday to Friday.

"Michelle's life was very happy, " said Tallon. "We cared for her 24/7. The only other person we'd let mind her was her sister. She was also as healthy as she could be. She was in hospital only twice in the last 10 years."

Michelle was admitted to James Connolly Memorial in July 2005 with constipation and vomiting. She was diagnosed with a blocked and swollen bowel and doctors instructed that she shouldn't be fed while treatment was given.

Four days later staff decided that she could take solids again, but a breakdown in communication led to the 'nil per oral' (not to be fed) sign not being removed from her bed. As a result, she was not fed for a further three days.

"It was harrowing knowing something was wrong and not being able to make ourselves heard, " said Tallon. "We were having rows with staff every day and other patients could hear us. It wasn't right, it should never have happened."

Although Michelle could not speak, her mother could communicate with her and could tell how she was feeling.

"I knew her inside out, " she said. "I spent 38 years caring for her and could tell from the slightest change of expression on her face what was wrong.

When the child is like that, medical staff should know to listen to her mother, but they didn't. We were her voice and we weren't listened to."

Formal complaint The Tallons made a formal complaint to the hospital about Michelle's care, but five days later she was put into intensive care. Her life support machine was switched off on 23 July and she died in her parents' arms.

"We're devastated, " said Tallon. "The pain doesn't go away. We loved her so much and we spent our lives looking after her, being with her every day. Now that she's gone, we're lost. We don't know what to do with our time."

The Tallons want an independent inquiry to find out exactly what happened during Michelle's stay in the hospital.

"We're not happy with the report into her death, " said Tallon. "We believe the full story should be made clear.

I've been fighting for Michelle all my life. I won't stop now until her death is fully explained."