Charlotte Louise Fletcher

Charlotte Louise Fletcher
31/12/2006
21/08/1997 - 9 years old
Clevedon,North Somerset
Charlotte has two sisters Steph & Dani.
Charlotte passed away during an epileptic seizure in her sleep.



Charlotte was a very bubbly happy little girl.She loved to dance,sing and generally entertain people. She couldnt do all the normal things children did ie: ride a bike,run,climb,play on swings,go swimming, etc..as this would end up with her having a seizure.Even a simple walk could trigger a seizure,consequently she spent a lot of time in her wheelchair. So to compensate she would spend her time watching her favourite Disney videos,she would watch them over and over again, (especially Peter Pan as she loved Tinkerbell so much), doing art and craft, puzzles, dressing up as a princess, singing and entertaining.

She tried not to let her illness affect her too much,but obviously would get upset sometimes because she wanted to be able to play like other children. Dont get me wrong at times she was a little monster like all children, but you couldnt stay mad for long as she would give you one of her cheeky little smiles and melt your heart again.

She would always notice if you had your hair cut, or new shoes on etc..and would always compliment you on it. Every morning while getting ready she would come into my room and say you look beautiful mummy and i miss her saying that to me. Charlotte was a very loving little girl and if you were unhappy or ill she would be the first to try and cheer you up. She didnt like anybody to be unhappy and she definatly didnt like it if anyone cried. She used to leave us little notes saying love you or hope you get well soon anything to let you know she was thinking about you. She was a very well liked and loved little girl and had many friends of all ages.She melted the hearts of everyone that she met.

Charlotte had her first seizure when she was just 7 months old, but it took until she was 2 years and 6 months old, and many hospital visits later that she was actually diagnosed with Epilepsy, although they still did not know what caused the seizures themselves. She had mostly Grand-Mall seizures, but was also known to have Peti-Malls (absences).

Charlotte had many investigations, scan , e, e ,g ,s, lumber punctures, spec scans etc. to try to discover what was making her have these seizures. She went through every medicine available for epileptics including the ones normally used in adult sufferers, but none of them seemed to have any effect.Charlotte as she got older was unable to do more and more of the normal things you would normally expect a child to do,without having an epileptic seizure.

When Charlotte was about 7 years old it was discovered that she had a very rare form of Epilepsy called Exercised Induced Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. This now explained a lot of things. This form of Epilepsy is so rare that not much is known about it and only 2 other people in the world have it. They are 2 boys in Australia,they have it in the left temporal lobe. Charlottes was in the right temporal lobe. Charlotte could have anything up to 17 Grand-Mall seizures in one day.

In october 2006 Charlotte had an operation to fit a Vegal Nerve Stimulator . This was over a course of time hopefully expected to reduce the amounts of seizures by sending extra electrical pulses to the brain(too technical to explain). Unfortunatly only 10 weeks later on the morning of New Years Eve 2006 Charlotte passed away, during an epileptic seizure in her sleep. They think that she had a Cardiac arrest but 13 months on we still await her inquest , so still have no real answers.
Charlotte had as far as i am aware 847 Grand Mall seizures in her short life time , so why was this one so different?

Charlotte will always be missed , loved and remembered by everyone who knew her. Her loss has had such an impact on everyone. Over 900 people, including all the Doctors and Specialists that had treated her, came to her funeral which was not held till March due to investigations by top doctors from Birmingham and Great Ormand St hospitals.
Charlotte was taken around clevedon in a pink coffin on a horse drawn carraige.Charlotte would have loved it. It was a funeral fit for a princess, our princess.The service was held at St.Johns church, then she was laid to rest at Clevedon Cemetary(known to the locals as St.Andrews).

She will be remembered for all her uniqueness, but most of all, for her ability to make us smile. We have held charity nights in Charlottes memory for the Epilepsy society via the CHARLOTTE FLETCHER MEMORIAL FUND and will continue to do so, helping everyone to keep her spirit and memory alive.

Charlotte you are thought about and talked about each and every day princess. Wherever we go you will always be with us.


Please use this site to remember Charlotte as we do.Try to remember the good times as she would. And most importantly remember her smile.

Please feel free to light a candle and leave a message whenever you like.

R.I.P.Charlotte, go play with the angels, do all you could not do on earth and keep watch over us all.
Love you forever and ever
Mummy,Daddy,
Steph & Dani
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her other web site is - R.I.P. CHARLOTTE-LOUISE-FLETCHER 21/08/97-31/12/06 on FACEBOOK


update
13h march2008- inquest results found that charlotte passed away due to natural causes from her epilepsy. she suffered a major fit.and as a result her body couldnt cope, her brain was starved of oxygen which then resulted in a cardiac arrest.
god bless darling charlotte, we think about you every day. our lives will never be the same again.love and kisses from everyone who had the privalige to know you . xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx