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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Victoria Scheer & Douglas Patient

'Smiley' girl, 13, tragically dies after 'essentially crushing her own lungs'

A teenager has tragically died after "essentially crushing her own lungs", a family friend has said.

Chloe Dudley, 13, was diagnosed with 1p36 deletion syndrome which can causes severe intellectual disabilities, delayed growth, hearing and vision impairment, Yorkshire Live reports.

Her mum Liz lovingly nicknamed her "Dolly" because Chloe was so little.

Dolly, who was registered blind but had partial eyesight, also suffered from scoliosis, which is an incredibly painful condition that causes the spine to twist and curve to the side.

Her conditions, recurrent chest infections and other medical problems sadly led to her death two weeks ago.

Family friend Jess Connolly said: "Towards the end stages she was essentially crushing her own lungs because her spine was curving that far.

"She was in and out of hospital for the last two months and she was on as many pain meds as they could give her."

Chloe with her mum Liz Dudley (Yorkshire Live/MEN Media)

Jess has now decided to set up a fundraiser in a bid to install a memorial bench for Dolly's family to "remember their beautiful little girl".

"I've got kids of my own and I can't imagine what it must be like to lose one of your children," said Jess who lives in Bishop Monkton, North Yorkshire.

"Her mum will do anything for everybody and always has a smile on her face."

Jess has already raised £650.

"I'm amazed by it, people have been so generous," said Jess.

"Chloe's sister Phoebe was absolutely devoted to her little sister. If we raise enough money, I'd like to give her a piece of jewellery that can have some of Chloe's ashes put in it."

Despite the pain Dolly was in, Jess said she was a "smiley" girl.

Paying tribute to the little girl, Jess said: "She was really, really colourful.

“She was registered blind although she did have partial sight so everything in the garden was bright-coloured and sensory.

"So for her funeral there was no black, everybody wore bright colours, some of us even wore pyjamas."

She added: "The last photo that her dad took of her was when she was in hospital and she had the biggest smile on her face."

If you would like to donate to the fundraiser, you can do so here.

Any surplus donations will be donated to Martin House Children's Hospice which looked after Dolly in her final days.

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