Ticket to Butterfly World helps Charlie's recovery

Charlie is shown a butterfly by centre manager Luke Brown, with her sister Robyn, proprietor Tony Miller and mum Sam Jarvis

Visiting Swindon's latest tourist attraction, the Studley Grange butterfly centre, near M4 junction 16 became a highlight of the summer holidays for Charlie Jarvis from Haydon Wick. Now she and her family can go there as often as they like after they were presented with a pass for the whole year.

An aggressive cancer took Charlie to the edge of life last year and doctors told her parents that they could do nothing more. But Sam and Paul Jarvis would not accept defeat and searched for treatments and remedies via the internet.

Charlie has made a remarkable recovery which doctors admit is almost miraculous after huge public support across Swindon raised £150,000 to pay for pioneering treatment from the Bruzinski Institute in Houston, Texas. She is currently in remission though she has to have an operation in late September to remove non-active lumps.

Butterfly World owner Tony Miller said, "I was very pleased to learn about Charlie from The Link. Her story is wonderful and if her visits contribute to her recovery, we're happy to help."

Sam said, "the butterflies have a calming effect on the girls and they've started to explain things to other children. So many, many people have been so kind to us over the last 18 months. Now that Charlie seems to be getting better we're receiving calls from parents who need support, encouragement and advice.

"We're also getting more involved with CALM, which is such a fantastic organisation; they've always been there for us. Everybody in Swindon should know about CALM."

After Paul and Sam were told there was no hope they spent weeks desperately researching cancer in children and put together their own treatment programme for Charlie. This includes daily doses of two cancer defeating drugs, plus another twenty vitamin and mineral pills, as well as herbal tea. Her diet excludes dairy products, red meat and sugar, and she has homeopathic treatment and reiki attunement.

"We were also adopted by the Roman Catholic congregation at St Mary's, Tovey Road," said Sam." Since then we've been going to church as we realise God has had a part in Charlie's survival. I should add that, although the doctors wrote Charlie off last year, the specialists at the Great Western Hospital have helped us greatly in her recovery."

Read about her at www.charliejarviscancerfund.co.uk



Stamp collecting for CALM

The Jarvis family is again collecting stamps to raise money for CALM, which is where The Link came in. The December 2001 edition featured Charlie's appeal for stamps, before Sam and Paul hit the headlines in their own appeal for funds.

Send stamps to :
Charlie Jarvis, 14 Coln Crescent, Greenmeadow, Swindon SN25 3NA.

For details of CALM, the Swindon based charity which is celebrating its twentieth year, log on to www.calmcharity.org