Charlotte Rose Coates

Charlotte Rose was a very independent & happy 5yr old who loved everything pink & girlie. She was always dressing up in her favourite Disney princess costumes and loved to dance & skip everywhere.

On 28th March 2006 Charlotte Rose was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma stage 4. The tumour was the size of a large grapefruit wrapped around her left kidney and the cancer had spread to her thigh bone & bone marrow. We were told that she had a 20% chance of surviving. Our world just fell apart but we knew we had to keep fighting to keep our little girl with us.

Charlotte endured many weeks of treatment which included Chemotherapy, an 8hr operation to remove her left kidney & the tumour, stem cell transplant & high dose chemotherapy not to mention numerous infections.

The high dose chemo had affected her liver severely and she was transferred to intensive care. After 2 weeks of being in intensive care Charlotte surprised us again by recovering enough to be transferred back to the ward. But then she developed more complications due to infection. We could see that Charlotte was really struggling and her liver had enlarged that much that it had started to affect her breathing & on top of this she developed septicaemia & so she was re admitted to intensive care. A couple of weeks later we were asked to make a decision that no parent should ever have to make and that was to turn our little girl’s life support off.

On Monday 18th December 2006 a week before Christmas the life support was turned off and Charlotte Rose took her last breath in my arms & gained her angel wings.

Though only 6yrs old she gave us a lifetime of memories, she showed incredible courage & bravery well beyond her years. Her character & charm showed in everything she did. She was an inspiration to us all.

We were so lucky to have such a special little girl in our lives.

Charlotte Rose will be forever in our hearts & minds she is missed so much. Our lives will never be the same without her.

It is our wish to create a memorial fund in Charlotte’s name that will be used to help other children & their families fighting Neuroblastoma. To provide help towards life saving treatment & fund research into a cure for Neuroblastoma.

Please support us by donating to Charlotte’s fund or by joining team Charlotte where you will not only be making a valuable contribution to our cause, but also by joining with us to celebrate & honour the life of our amazing Daughter Charlotte Rose.