A CAMPAIGNING mum has brought about a change in the law to help grieving parents get time off work eight years after her toddler son drowned in the family pond in Furness.

Lucy Herd’s son Jack Herd died at their home in Stank in August 2010 when she took her eye off him for a second. He was 23 months old.

Her husband was allowed just three days paid leave from his engineering job which Lucy thought unfair.

The tragedy devastated the family, but she embarked on a campaign – Jack’s Rainbow – asking the government to give parents improved statutory bereavement leave following the death of a child.

Her eight-year battle has ended in victory after the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill received royal assent on Thursday.

Employed parents who lose a child under 18 will now receive two weeks’ paid leave under the act, which is expected to come into force in 2020.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said: “Despite the pain she was going through Lucy was determined that something positive should come out of her loss and she has taken her campaign forward with the intention of making life a bit easier for grieving parents."