A family has spoken of their heartbreaking grief after their three-week-old baby died from a rare condition. Mum Lauren Davenport, 30, had a completely normal pregnancy, and there was nothing to suggest Charlotte Tudor would be rushed into intensive care and stay there for the rest of her short life.
Emergency C-Section and Sudden Decline
Charlotte was born on May 29 by emergency C-section after Lauren developed a high fever and rapid heart rate. Dad Macauley Tudor, 30, from Rainford, told the ECHO: 'Lauren had a miscarriage last year so we had all the scans and check ups to make sure everything was normal. We were booked in for an induction on May 28 at Whiston Hospital. A few hours later she asked me to get her a blanket because she was in pain and shivering. The midwives said she had a high temperature, in the forties, and a high heart rate. They checked Charlotte's heart rate and it was in the two hundreds, so they rushed us to the delivery suite for an emergency C-section.'
As soon as Charlotte was born, her parents knew she was poorly. 'She wasn't like a normal baby, she was very quiet, she slept a lot, she developed a rash and swelled up like a balloon. She didn't feed either,' Macauley said. Charlotte was moved to the special care baby unit and later sedated and put on a ventilator before being transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
Diagnosis and Final Days
At Alder Hey, doctors diagnosed Charlotte with enterovirus-driven hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare hyperinflammatory condition known as a 'cytokine storm.' Despite being put on trial medications from the United States, her condition deteriorated. 'She developed a heart condition, her lungs collapsed, and organs failed. Consultants told us she wasn't going to make it and to call people to say goodbye,' Macauley said.
Charlotte died on June 21, having spent her entire life fighting. 'No parent can ever prepare for the heartbreak of losing a child,' Macauley added. 'It's strange, no-one should have to go through this at 30 years old. Nobody should have to organise a funeral for their baby, or decide what colour coffin a baby should have.'
Fundraiser for Alder Hey
Macauley, alongside Charlotte's grandad Keith, auntie Natalie, and uncle Ryan, are completing the Tour de Mon on Sunday, August 23 to raise money for Alder Hey, whose care the family 'couldn't fault.' They hope to fund a private room in the intensive care unit for parents to receive difficult news in privacy. 'We found there was nowhere private for us to have all those important conversations, we were often told hard news in the corridors. Nobody should have to have those conversations in public,' Macauley said.
Charlotte's funeral service will take place at St Ann's Church in Rainhill on Wednesday, July 15 at 10.30am, followed by interment at Fox Bank Cemetery. Donations are requested to be made to Alder Hey in Charlotte's memory.
