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Katie Francklin
A Tribute to Katie
Her pretty little face, usually covered in
chocolate, her engaging cheeky grin, her soft mousey brown hair – often in
bunches, her twinkly brown eyes. That was Katie!
Katie was born on 23rd June
1992, a seemingly strong and healthy baby. However, she failed to thrive in
early infancy and after a multitude of grueling tests and much anxiety, she
was eventually diagnosed with CDG type 1a, another unusual and complex
metabolic syndrome.
As a family we wanted life to be as normal
as possible for Katie. She went to a special nursery group, then on to a
special primary school when health permitted. At the age of 11 she went on
to St. Margaret’s School at The Children’s Trust, Tadworth, Surrey.
This is a wonderful residential school
where she had the 24 hour care she required along with a multitude of
therapies, her much loved enjoyment of music, hydro and rebound therapy. It
was equally an environment in which she thrived and progressed amidst much
love and attention from dedicated staff and lots of friends. Katie came
home for many weekends, for half-terms and school holidays to have fun with
her sister Flora and brother Jack.
It was an enormous shock when quite
unexpectedly Katie died in May of this year. During the fifteen and a half
years of her life she had many ups and downs health wise, endured daily
burdens – yet in spite of all this she never complained, she rarely cried,
she was always smiling, always happy, radiating so much love to anyone who
met her.
As so many families know, losing a child
is so very hard, somehow the more a child needs you, the more you love them
– the greater the loss. But in their different ways these special children
give so much to us all – whether we are siblings, parents, grandparents,
carers, medical professionals or friends – whoever we are to them, they
teach us about human nature, about the important values in our lives and so
much more.
They are our shining stars and we will
never forget them, and to the people and organisations such as Climb who
help guide us through – THANK YOU.
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