Charlies Chapter/FacebookA brave 5-year-old boy who was battling cancer apologised to his mum before dying in her arms.
Charlie Proctor, from Accrington, Lancashire, was diagnosed with a rare tumour in 2016 which required him to have a liver transplant.
Charlie’s parents, Amber Schofeld and Ben Proctor, launched an appeal to raise £855,580, which would go towards Charlie having an operation in the US.
They shared their son’s story in an emotional post on Facebook in October, writing:
I’m absolutely heartbroken to have to write this post. Myself and Charlie’s Daddy decided to keep this to ourselves until after the holiday. This last week has been spent telling family, friends and them having their time with Charlie.
Now that ourselves and family have had some time to try and deal with this, it’s time we share with you…. The week before our holiday we spoke with Charlie’s consultant. His cancer is growing faster than we expected in both his liver and lungs.
How can a parent, who’s already planning the last few months of their child’s life, feel any worse?.. by hearing the words.. “He has 4-6 weeks of life left”. That’s how.
This was nearly 4 week ago. Charlie has 2weeks left to breath, 14 days to see the world, 336 hours to spend with his little sister, his baby sister he won’t get to see grow. [sic]
Charlie's Chapter/FacebookOn Friday (November 9), Charlie passed away. His parents shared the devastating news on Saturday (November 10), including a picture of the young boy with angel wings.
The post read:
Last night at 23:14 my best friend, my world, Charlie, took his final breath. He fell asleep peacefully cuddled in my arms with daddy’s arms wrapped around us. Our hearts are aching. The world has lost an incredible little boy.
Charlie, you gave me chance to be a mum. You have been, not only our biggest inspiration but you have been an inspiration to thousands of people all over the world. You showed me what love really means Charlie. Now it’s time to fly, I am so, so proud of you.
You fought this so hard. My baby, I’m hurting so much. I will forever miss you baby bum. Sweet dreams my baby.
This will be the last photo I post of Charlie. As the days go by he deteriorates more and more. He no longer looks like…
Posted by Charlie's Chapter. on Friday, 9 November 2018
In a post shared just one day earlier, Amber explained how her brave son had apologised to her ahead of his death, saying ‘Mummy, I’m so sorry for this’.
She explained:
I want everyone to remember Charlie for who he is. I want them to remember how he looked, how cheeky he was, how hilarious, how grumpy he was because right now Charlie isn’t any of those. He’s sad, he’s tired, he’s fed up and depressed.
“I don’t know what to do anymore” are his main words.. today, he’s been very agitated, wanting to lay down, sit up, lay in bed, then on the beanbag, then on the sofa, then back upstairs and so on…
charlie, at one point, turned to me and said in the most quiet, panting voice, ”Mummy, I’m so sorry for this” he was sorry because he wanted to move again and he felt he had to apologise for that? [sic]
Last night at 23:14 my best friend, my world, Charlie, took his final breath. He fell asleep peacefully cuddled in my…
Posted by Charlie's Chapter. on Saturday, 10 November 2018
The news of Charlie’s death is truly devastating and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on (Monday – Friday, 9am – 8pm).
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.