DENVER, Colo. -- On Monday, the Denver City Council approved the city's largest personal-injury settlement ever with the parents of Emily Rice. Rice died in Denver's jail in Feb. 2006. Her parents spoke exclusively with CALL7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski.

"I'd give anything not to be in this and just have Emily back," said Emily's mother, Sue Garber.

Garber continued, explaining that she hopes, "We've made enough change that it won't happen to somebody else and another family won't be torn apart by this type of tragedy."

Emily's father, Roy Rice, told Kovaleski, "We settled because we think it's better for everyone concerned."

Their 24-year-old daughter was taken to Denver Health Medical Center after a drunken driving accident.

Doctors at the hospital discharged her without diagnosing a number of severe internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen and lacerated liver.

After leaving the hospital, Rice was immediately booked into the Denver County Jail and, according to records made public, she repeatedly complained of severe pain.

Her cries for help were ignored by many of the sheriff's deputies on duty and surveillance video shows, several hours later, Rice being wheeled from her cell on a gurney surrounded by medical personnel and deputies.

She was dead.

"They're not going to be able to just slam the door and pretend those screams aren't going on anymore," said her father.

He's talking about a series of changes at the Denver jail that was a critical part of the family's acceptance of a settlement.

They're called "Emily's Protocols," and contain more than three full pages of changes including:

- Specific care instructions for inmates moved from the hospital to the jail

- Annual medical awareness training for all Denver Sheriff's deputies

- Continuous recording of the jail's surveillance cameras

Garber told Kovaleski, "It was worth going thru all that agony to make sure the changes were put in place."

Changes to the surveillance system were sparked by a CALL7 Investigation that aired in Nov. 2007.

The video showed Emily leaning against a wall inside the jail.

It then cut to black and 64 seconds later the image returned with Emily lying on the floor surrounded by deputies.

Experts told 7NEWS the 64 seconds were deleted, but the city maintains it was a glitch in the recording system.

Emily's parents believe the video was crucial to reaching a settlement, but remain disturbed by the missing 64 seconds.

"It showed the people in this state, and the city and county, that something went on down there that is not normal and should not be normal practice," said Roy Rice.

He continued, "The city knows they messed up and they brought us to the table. They brought us to the negotiating table, we didn't bring them because they knew the award probably would have been double, in my opinion, had we gone to trial."

Besides "Emily's Protocols," the settlement also includes $3 million from the city to Rice's parents and attorneys.

Garber and Rice told 7NEWS the money was never the most important issue, but they felt it was crucial in order to send a message.

They believe that without a monetary punishment, "Emily's Protocols" could too easily be ignored.

"If these people would have done their job we wouldn't be here. So now we have to punish them to make them do their job," said Roy Rice.

With the settlement approved and the fight for justice behind them, Garber and Rice are now preparing for a tougher battle -- a future with no Emily.

Garber told Kovaleski, "The money part is over. The settlements are over. The indescribable pain of knowing how that child begged for her life, I'll live with that until the day I die."