After spending the first three years of her life in a hospital, Charlotte Wyatt is to be discharged into foster care. It is a bitter sweet day for her parents, Darren and Debbie, who fought the courts and the hospital for their daughter's life and now are told to say good-bye:
Tomorrow Charlotte is leaving the hospital that has been her home for the past three years and going into foster-care. Leaving the hospital is a milestone we have waited long and prayed earnestly for her to reach, but while we rejoice with her we feel at the same time as if our hearts were torn out as we’re told to say goodbye. We will continue fighting for her, and hope and pray she will soon be truly at home, among people who know and love her.Darren was at the hospital this morning for an emotional goodbye. I wish I could post the pictures taken then, but the regulations are still in force and I don’t want to make new trouble, so I will do my best with description.
Our little girl is quite well after the last illness, and her face is bright and alert. Only the oxygen tubing for her nasal cannula mark her as an oxygen dependent baby as she sits on Darren’s lap in the hospital room, by the little cot she had so long slept in. She is peaceful but alert, moving her chubby arms about. Close by is a colored crate with her toys, and on the other side, the small bed… a simple metal frame such as is common in hospitals, but decorated and framed with many little mementos of love for the little one who was here so long, fighting so hard.
As much of her soft dark hair as they could gather is drawn back to a tiny plait at the top of her head. The rest frames her little face; sometimes frowning and stubborn-looking, sometimes bright and eager as she responds to the world around her.Read more about Charlotte's story here.Later she is prepared to go outside in the pushchair; a few tubes of oxygen are placed in the carrying-basket underneath so that she can be mobile. She looks warm in her furry pink coat, and the little knitted cap that covers her head, and if you were there you would have agreed that she was the cutest three year old in England. But when she is wheeled outside, and the pushchair stands for a moment alone under the eaves of the main entrance, she looks suddenly very small and vulnerable. How we wish we could gather her up and take her somewhere were she would always be safe– from sickness, from hurt, and from the cold and indifference with which we always seem to be greeted whenever we must deal with The System.
Please keep Charlotte in your prayers over the next days and weeks. God has protected her throughout her short life; though there were many times we were powerless; and he must continue to do so. Pray for us too, Darren and Debbie especially; that we would have peace knowing our baby is safe in his care, that we would know what the next steps are for us, and that we would have wisdom and patience as we deal with the courts, the NHS and the social services in the upcoming days.
The wickedness of the "state" is beyond measure.
These two totally dedicated parents, whose love and care have brought Charlotte this far, don't deserve to have her taken away after their incredible struggle to help her survive.
May the Lord's perfect justice bring her home and
restore their marriage.
Scrooge is alive and well in England!!
Merry Christmas to Charlotte's Mum and Dad - may God shower
you 3 with his love and care, this day and through out the new year.