The 5-year-old boy who last year won WellChild’s Inspirational Child award presented by Prince Harry, has passed away.
Carson Hartley, from Liverpool, passed away on Monday, following a deterioration of his health. The yougster suffered from a terminal genetic condition called Mitochondrial disease, which causes a breakdown in the body’s cells.
As a baby, he was born 13 weeks prematurely, with chronic heart and lung problems, and bleeding on the brain. Carson also spent the first three years of his life at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, and was told he would never walk. But he defied the odds, and survived, finally walking when he was two-years-old. The youngster had more than 40 operations in his short life, and his parents married last year, so that he would be able to attend their wedding.
Prince Harry presented Carson with an Inspirational Child award last September, talking of his ‘tremendous spirit’. He also shared a hug and a high-five with the youngster.
Carson also met The Duchess of Cambridge when she visited Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in 2012.
Carson’s mother, Kirsty said: ‘He was a true superhero from beginning to end and he touched so many people from all over the world.
‘He really was a legend, our Captain Carson.’
Feature photo: UK in Italy