Charlotte Wyatt

Just a quick note. Good news about Charlotte, she, still in foster care, is slowly learning how to walk and seems to be doing well.

More of the same problems with her parents. They are no longer together.

I know many of you have been waiting to hear news of our little girl; and I’m sorry it’s been such a long time. Even when we can’t write regularly, please know that we very much appreciate your prayers and support.

Darren and Debbie are back together again! Darren is fighting to get the press ban lifted so that this website can be more fully updated, and they are also fighting to get their kids back. They were rather upset a few days ago at not being able to see Charlotte on her fourth birthday (on the 21’st).

They appreciate your ongoing prayers for them, and for their kids. Pray that they will all be together again soon.

Please keep praying for Charlotte and her family. Neither Mummy nor Daddy has been given permission to bring her home, yet, so she is still in care, but doing well: next birthday she will be four!

Pray that she’ll continue to get well and strong and develop as she should, and that, in spite of all the family difficulties around her, that she would know she is very loved. Pray for her little brothers, Daniel and Davy, and for her little sister Christina. And pray for Mummy and Daddy, that they would be encouraged and given the grace to cope with all that surrounds them. And that they would be able to understand each other, and figure out, together, the best way to care for their little ones.

This is just a short update to let you know Darren was able to visit Charlotte yesturday and spend some time with her. She is doing well– growing up quickly!–and enjoyed the visit.

As you spend this Christmas with your family and loved ones, please pray for the Wyatt family. Last year Charlotte was home, if only for a few days, and we looked forward to having her with us permanently, something that was expected in a few months. Now she has left the hospital permanently, but she is not home.

Pray that she would have a happy day in the place she is in now; we have heard nothing since she left the hospital last Wednesday. Pray for her foster family, that they would be given a great love for the precious child they are watching over and do well by her.

Pray for the other children as well–Daniel and David and Christina; that they too would know they are very much loved, and that they would have a stable home environment soon.

And pray for Debbie and for Darren.

It’s been a hard, lonely Christmas for Darren without any of the children… pray that he would be given new encouragement and peace and a strength to go on.

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.

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.

We’ve been told that Charlotte will go into foster care in two weeks, in a place outside of Portsmouth– neither Debbie nor Darren will be told where. Please pray that God would watch over her wherever she is, even if she is out of our reach. And we want so much for him to intervene in this situation– please pray that he would do so if it is his will.

Charlotte is still ill; she is now in 70% oxygen in the head box. The doctors aren’t telling us much more than it is an infection. Please keep praying.

The social services are still saying she will be put in foster care away from Portsmouth as soon as she gets well; but there is a Court hearing tomorrow and perhaps we will know more after that.

Charlotte is having a bad night, broken by many coughing spells. Please keep her in your prayers.

Update 11/14: Still not doing so well. They’ve done a chest x-ray and it seems she has an infection; and she is on antiobiotics as well as inhalers for her cough. We hope it’ll be over soon, and get no worse…

This is just a short update to let you know that Charlotte is doing somewhat poorly; she seems to have got a chest cold and runny nose. This isn’t as frightening as it used to be, but as her lungs are still fragile it is not good. Daddy is with her in the hospital, doing her care.

Please keep praying– that she would get better quickly; that this time with Darren in the hospital would be a special time for both of them, as well as a resounding success on the practical level; and that she could come home soon.