Last year, Rob – a manager in the motor industry – and his partner Jordan tragically lost their beloved six-year-old son Charlie. Born with Down’s syndrome and a life-limiting heart condition, Charlie was in and out of hospital throughout his life, often in Bristol, more than 130 miles away from the family home in Cornwall. 

 The whole family – Rob and Jordan have three other children – was shattered when Charlie died and has spent this past year trying to regroup. 

 As Rob explains, “Jordan, his mum, was his full-time carer for the past six years so it’s been very tough for her to carry on. My youngest has just started at the same school as Charlie in the same classroom, so it brings back memories, good and bad, which is very hard.” 

He goes on to say that the kids are all dealing with their grief in different ways. “My youngest just goes on with life. My middle child is very angry and has been for a long time now so that’s something that we’re looking out for. And my eldest doesn’t speak a lot in person about it but she’s at the age now where she’s on TikTok and she expresses how she’s feeling that way.” 

Because of Charlie’s health, it’s been several years since the family had been away somewhere. The last time they were on holiday all together, Charlie had to be rushed into hospital and, after that, his parents decided it was just too risky to attempt again. 

 So when they were referred to Family Holiday Charity by Heart Heroes this year for a much-needed break, Rob and Jordan wanted to be able to offer their other children a change of environment after the trauma of losing Charlie. 

“We picked a holiday park in Poole because they had a Nickleodeon weekender for the kids. We’d heard good things about them and just wanted to make sure that the kids had a good time and focus on them really.  

 My youngest was most excited about meeting Paw Patrol, my other kids were interested in all the activities. They wanted to go to a party which they haven’t been able to do for a long long time. 

 We did a high-rope activity with my eldest and Jail Blast with my middle child. We went to the entertainment every night where all three kids got really involved and played bingo. We loved watching them have a good time and not have to worry about anything, just letting them be free and run around and be themselves. 

 Although nothing can ever take the pain away at losing Charlie, Rob and the family are grateful for the short respite that Dorset offered. “Being away from home in a different area takes the stress away from life,” he ends.