Charlotte Garside, just 68cm tall and weighs less than 9lbs, no bigger than a newborn and
smaller than her favourite teddy, attended her classes at five years of age today. When she was born, Charlotte weighed less than 2lbs, measured 25cm and had to be dressed in dolls' clothes.
The parents Scott Garside and Emma Newman, felt proud today after their
daughter made it possible among normal kids her age as she was born with a disease called Primordial Dwarfism, so rare doctors don't even have a name for it. But despite being warned she could die before the age of one, Charlotte has developed into a boisterous and inquisitive girl.
Emma, 30, of Withernsea, East Yorks, said: 'Although Charlotte is a
one-in-a-million baby with some health problems, she is not the sort of person who will fade into the background. She may be small but she has a massive personality and wants to do everything a normal five-year-old does. She is very inquisitive and the school have already told us she has a learning age of a three-year-old, which is higher than we thought.”
Her mother went on to saying: “Of course, I was worried she could get
hurt by the other children, but she has her own tutor look after her and she's not as fragile as you'd think.”
Emma carried the tiny baby around in the front pocket of her hoodie and put her in nappies the size of a credit card. Now measuring less than 70cm, she still wears clothes for newborns and is even dwarfed by the family's pet cat.
Scott, 26, and Emma, feel the best way to see what Charlotte is capable of is
by testing her in mainstream education. Emma said: “There are a lot of unknowns but Charlotte has a way of surprising you when you least expect it. We didn't know if she would live this long. We didn't know if she would be able to interact with people and there have been times when we thought we might lose her. But she keeps on thriving and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.”
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