We’re incredibly saddened to learn that Charlotte Figi, the Colorado girl who inspired the CBD movement, has died following a prolonged illness, suspected to be COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Charlotte became the poster child for the benefits of CBD oil after using it to control the constant seizures experienced from her severe epilepsy, called Dravet syndrome. As a toddler in Colorado Springs, she experienced up to 300 grand mal seizures per week and used a wheelchair, before using CBD, which drastically reduced her rate of seizures.
Charlotte’s death was announced by a family friend Tuesday night on the Facebook page of her mother, Paige Figi.
“Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever. Thank you so much for all of your love,” read the post, which also asked the public to respect Figi’s family’s privacy.
Paige Figi had posted in recent weeks on Facebook about a serious illness that sickened all the members of her family with fever, coughing and breathing difficulties and sent Charlotte to the hospital.
In an update Wednesday to the Facebook post announcing Charlotte’s death, Paige Figi said the family did not initially meet the criteria for testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, so they self-treated at home, as instructed. Charlotte’s symptoms worsened, and she was admitted to the hospital on April 3, where she was tested for COVID-19.
The test result came back negative — though the coronavirus test has been beset with false negatives. Figi wrote that Charlotte was treated on a floor designated for COVID-19 patients, “using all of the medical protocols set in place.”
She was discharged from the hospital on Sunday, after her condition seemed to improve. She suffered a seizure Tuesday morning resulting in respiratory failure and cardiac arrest, however, and she was taken back to the hospital, where she was treated “as a likely COVID-19 case.” Figi said seizures commonly occur along with illnesses in children like Charlotte with Dravet syndrome.
“Her fighting spirit held out as long as it could and she eventually passed in our arms peacefully,” Paige Figi wrote.
Early Wednesday, the Realm of Caring Foundation, an organization co-founded by Paige Figi, wrote on Facebook that Charlotte’s death was due to complications from COVID-19. But the organization later amended the post to remove the reference to the coronavirus.
If her death is verified by public health officials as related to COVID-19, Charlotte would be the youngest victim of the pandemic in Colorado so far. A spokeswoman for El Paso County Public Health said Wednesday that the department cannot comment about individual cases. But she said the county, at least yet, does not have any confirmed pediatric deaths from COVID-19.
