Published: Thursday, 17th December, 2009 9:00am

Millie's mum: the last moment I kissed my little princess

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Millie Martin.

"The doctors kept doing tests and tests, we hoped so much that she'd wake up. They tried to see if there was any life left in her but there wasn't. They let me nurse her before they turned off the life-support machine and after they switched it off too. I kissed and cuddled her, holding her in my arms. She was my perfect princess with a lovely smile and beautiful big eyes, and she should still be here,"

The heart-rending account of the final moments Rachel Martin spent with her 15-month old daughter Millie who died last Friday after being attacked in her home at Glebe Park, Enniskillen.

In an emotionally-charged interview exclusively for the Impartial Reporter, Rachel Martin speaks for the first and only time about the horrific murder of her "darling" Millie last week.

It's the story that has shocked, sickened and horrified the entire country - how could anyone take the life of a baby girl?

The tiny toddler was rushed to the Erne Hospital on Thursday night with "horrific injuries" and was transferred to the Royal Hospital in Belfast. On Friday night, Millie lost her fight for life and died.

A 30-year-old man from Irvinestown was arrested for her murder and appeared at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

In a statement released at the weekend, Millie's family spoke of their heartache and requested privacy.

But in a week of huge press attention and according to the family, "several inaccuracies" in some of the reports in the media, they have chosen to speak out to this newspaper about the night that shattered their lives for ever. This is their story in their own words.

In the family home in Ardess, Rachel is a world away from 16 Glebe Park, surrounded by all those that love her. The thought of her Enniskillen home, she says, and the horror of Thursday night haunts her; "I'll never go back there, I'll never go near that place again,"

"I nipped just down the road to the Chanterhill shop around 8.30pm, just for a few messages. I was literally minutes away and when I got back, there was nobody in the house. The house was empty and I lifted my phone up to see that I had a missed call. I got a phone call telling me to get to the Erne Hospital quick - Millie wasn't well - I was in hysterics,"

"Whenever I got to the hospital Millie was being worked at. They thought she had a wee fit because she had a wee bite on her tongue, I was in pieces at the hospital," added Rachel.

While at the Erne, the family were first told by doctors that Millie may have been suffering from Meningitis; "They weren't ruling anything out,"

Millie was then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital where she was put on a life-support machine; "She was so poorly, she wasn't able to breathe for herself. She wasn't able to do anything for herself. The machine was keeping her alive," said Rachel.

A picture of Millie sits on a coffee table in the living room of the Ardess home with 'Angel' written along the frame. Throughout the interview, Rachel sitting on a sofa opposite, continually stares lovingly at the picture of her beautiful little girl. Pictures are all that she has left of her Millie.

I asked how she would describe her Millie and with tears rolling down her cheeks, Rachel looked at the picture and said; "She was my angel. She was my life... [pauses and closes her eyes...] She was my life,"

It's impossible to imagine the pain and hardship that this distraught mother and her family are going through right now. With just days to Christmas, Millie should have been opening Christmas presents next week.

Millie's grandmother Margaret and her husband Noel say they are finding it tough to cope - Millie's death has hit the family hard.

"There are just no words," said an emotional Margaret; "Everywhere I look I'm seeing something that reminds me of Millie. We just can't believe it,"

"The best way you can describe Millie is a little angel, a precious angel that could never be replaced. It's just a nightmare, a nightmare everyday," she said.

For Rachel, the anguish is too much to bear; "It's too hard to describe. I'm all cried out, I want her back so much,"