Charlotte and her twin sister were born 10 weeks early. Due to complications, Charlotte was profoundly deaf in both ears and had relatively severe cerebral palsy. In her short life, she also had to have a number of operations of varying severity.

She died suddenly in the early hours of Friday 4th March 2016 after developing influenza and consequent breathing difficulties.

Despite having had far more than her fair share of difficulties, she loved life as well as her brother and sister. They loved her equally. She had very many bright moments and gave everyone who knew her a lot of joy.

Charlotte had received cochlear implants in early December and was showing great pleasure at experiencing sound once again. She had already started to work hard on speech and language therapy in the good hands of Auditory Verbal UK and her NHS therapists. We were optimistic that she would one day develop full speech and language.

In lieu of flowers, we are asking those who would like, to make a donation in Charlotte’s memory to Auditory Verbal UK. Any money raised will go towards a bursary scheme to help give access to their programme to children from families on low incomes. 

When entertained, Charlotte’s cackle was irresistible. She will always be loved and sorely missed.