AIM Director Emma Dalmayne and Jenny Payne went to see Emma and Karl Lloyd-Buckingham in Eastbourne, Sussex on Friday.
They tragically lost their daughter Chante, age 24 on August 12th last year, after she unalived herself in supported living accomodation.
We spoke here about Chante, about her hobbies, her passions, the failure of CAMHS to support her, about what Emma and Karl want to change with the CQC and about their petition to the government.
Please do sign the two below petition links and share them, you will need to verify your signature so please do check your email, it might have gone into your spam:
The couples pain is palpable, and we hope that you will share this video.
Please read the news links, and know that sadly... devastatingly... is not uncommon.
Failures to meet need, autistics unaliving themselves and insufficient monitoring of care homes, of mental health wards, ATU's and supported living is rampant in the UK.
Karl wrote this beautiful poem for Chantè, and read it at her funeral:
"In Loving Memory of Chante
A Celebration of Her Light.
“I love you to the moon and back again.”
For Chante, who now Dances Among the Stars:
Chante danced where petals kissed the air,
A blossom child, beyond compare.
With every twirl, the world grew bright
A song, a spark, a beam of light.
In fields of light where fairies play,
Chante twirled her joy in sweet ballet.
A songbird soul with laughter bright
Now dances softly into the night.
Chante’s voice, a melody of spring,
Still echoes when the robins sing.
Each note she gave, each step she spun,
Still warms the hearts of everyone.
Fairies watched with gentle grace,
As Chante filled the world with space
For dreams to bloom and hearts to mend
A soul too rare to comprehend.
Chante loved the flowers, wild and free,
The daisy, rose, and willow tree.
She’d hum to them beneath the sun,
As if the earth and she were one.
And though Chante’s gone from touch and sight,
She dances still in beams of light.
She sings in winds that kiss the rain,
And whispers through the windowpane:
“I love you to the moon and back again.”
Our phrase, our vow, a sweet refrain.
It echoes now in every breeze,
In rustling leaves and swaying trees.
Though now she sleeps in heaven’s care,
Chante’s spirit flutters everywhere.
In petals kissed by morning dew,
In every song the wind sings through.
So let us not just mourn her flight,
But celebrate her wings of light.
For Chante lives in every breeze,
In whispered songs among the trees.
Chante is the sparkle in the rain,
The hush of peace after the pain.
A fairy’s kiss upon our skin,
A love that never ends, within.
Chante is the hush of twilight skies,
The tear that falls, the smile that dries.
And when we speak her name aloud,
She dances gently through the cloud.
“I love you to the moon and back again.”
Forever etched in sun and rain.
Forever Chante, forever true
A love that lives in me and you."
So many lives needlessly lost.
Channel 5 News:
BBC:
My previous piece:
