Girl loses fight for life

By Callan Date
THE sudden death of a three-year-old Hampton Park girl has rocked her close knit family and the school community at Narre Warren South P-12 College.
Brodie-Lee Douglas died within hours of developing serious health complications early last Friday morning.
The toddler was born with severe brain damage and uncontrollable epilepsy but fought her illnesses.
Brodie-Lee’s mother, Alisa Derbyshire, said her daughter had taught a lot of people so much during her short life.
“She tried her hardest at everything she did. She would never whinge. Her sisters and the whole family absolutely adored her,” Ms Derbyshire said.
She said her daughter suffered serious physical damage at birth.
“It was a blessing to have her for three and a half years. We were told Brodie-Lee may live to middle age if she had no complications.
“Unfortunately she was in and out of hospital all her life.
“She didn’t like to go to hospital so we tried to do as much of the treatment as we could from home.
“We would have doctors and nurses come over to the house,” she said.
Brodie-Lee’s sisters are struggling to come to terms with the death of their sibling, their mother said.
“They are all missing her. They were involved in a lot of her things and they would all play together and dress her up and put make-up on her.
“Her baby sister is really missing her. They would cry together and Brodie-Lee would kiss and cuddle her.”
Ms Derbyshire said she didn’t want her daughter’s death to be in vain and wanted the public to be more compassionate towards people with disabilities.
“We lost some friends when Brodie-Lee was born because they couldn’t handle her health problems.
“These kids should never be stared at with fear. Although some kids are disabled they are real people. Just smile at them like you would with any other child,” she said.
And the thoughts of Ms Derbyshire have already been acted upon by some students at Narre Warren South P-12 College.
A group of Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students had organised a fundraiser for Brodie-Lee, who has two sisters who attend the school, before she died.
The students had set their sights on raising $2000 through a Catwalk Fashion Parade but will now donate the money towards a person facing a similar battle to that of Brodie-Lee.
“I am positive there is a child out there who needs the financial help like we did.
“Hopefully the money can go towards someone else who needs it,” Ms Derbyshire said.
The Catwalk Fashion Parade will take place in the college gymnasium on Wednesday, 27 June.
Ticket inquiries should be directed to Mohiene Deo on 9704 3333.