Prince Harry sent his condolence to the parents of a disabled teen who died after suffering from conditions such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease.
The Duke met the teen in 2015 while presenting her sister Ruby with a Well-child Award for being her carer. After knowing about her death Harry wrote an email to the family of Holly Smallman, 18, to tell he had been “fortunate” to meet their “special and happy girl.”
He added: “I imagine words cannot really hope to provide much comfort to you and your family at this most difficult of times, but I wanted you to know that you, your daughter Ruby and son Josh are in my thoughts and my prayers.”
The teen’s mother Hayley from Liverpool said: “For Prince Harry to find the time to send this email, to know Holly made that impact on him and that he cares so much, even in all his private turmoil, just meant the world to us.”
She recalled the time when her late daughter first met Prince Harry. The mother continued: “I told him she was visually impaired and got frightened of people talking over or down on her.’’
“When she came in, he got down on one knee, held her hand and had a full conversation with her, chatting away. He sent everyone else out of the room and just spent time with the two of them. It was an incredible moment.”
Only a few people could attend Holly’s funeral because of the social-distancing rule but thousands paid tribute to the girl on social media including Coleen Rooney, who lost her 14-year-old sister in 2013.
Coleen tweeted that Holly was “a special little angel” and said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Smallman family on this sad day.”
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