Ruairi Carte

Ruairi's story

Life began for Ruairi on 13th June 2018 at Leicester Royal Infirmary. We were all amazed by him and in awe of him, from the moment he was born. He grew up with his caring, loving big sisters Niamh and Aoife, who he adored spending time with. Ruairi also loved his tortoise Tiddles, who he was fascinated by. From day 1 it was very obvious that Ruairi was always going to be a very determined little boy, he would have a go at anything and certainly kept us on our toes. He was naturally inquisitive and curious and given half a chance would get up to all kinds of mischief. He was a little whippet at moving towards open doors, to close and open them. He was very helpful, and would shuffle himself around to open the door for you, if you asked him to. One thing that Ruairi didn’t like was getting his hands and face dirty but he did love the sensory feedback he received from water. He loved to go swimming at Rainbows and took great delight in splashing everyone with his ‘kicky legs’. On a recent holiday to Cornwall, Ruairi just loved the beach days the family spent together and could be quite demanding about going back into the sea, he loved it so much. Showers at home, playing with bowls of ice, and having bubbles in his bath were all an important part of Ruairi’s daily life. Ruairi also enjoyed being active, no matter what the weather, he wanted to be outside in his walker. He also enjoyed being on the park, having a ride on the swings with his sisters and cousins, watching the trees blowing in the wind. He loved going on family walks in his pushchair, touching the leaves and seeing the swans and ducks gliding on the water. Ruairi was so responsive to whatever was happening around him, some school staff at Forest Way even referred to him as nosey! Singing always calmed him, and he was a bit of a tv addict! His favourite television programmes were undoubtedly Peter Rabbit and Paddington Bear and if any of us, or our friends talked a bit too loudly over Peter Rabbit or tried to change the channels, he made his feelings abundantly clear. Ruairi was actually a bit of a TV celebrity in his own right, he appeared in an online advert for the Movement Centre in Oswestry, to highlight the support the centre offered to children with neuromuscular difficulties, like Ruairi. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Rainbows, the Midlands News team filmed part of the open day celebration. Ruairi very cleverly positioned himself in front of the cameras and proudly appeared on two tv news bulletins. Ruairi was also described as a celebrity by lots of the staff that supported him at school. He loved walking up and down the corridors in his walker, making sure he gave high fives to everyone that he passed. When it came to food, although Ruairi was tube fed and then more recently, peg fed, he did like to taste different foods, including gravy, ice-cream, yoghurt, which he somehow managed to get covered in, and a Cadburys flake. Even though Ruairi didn’t have a safe swallow, he knew exactly where food should go, and persisted in trying new flavours. Ruairi was very settled and content at home. He loved reading books, either on the sofa or as a bedtime story before bed. With practise and determination, he learned to turn the pages of books – this is something he loved to do. He took great pleasure in his toy cars, taking turns to push them to family members or friends, and then eagerly waited for them to be pushed back to him. He was a fan of cause and effect toys, which included a range of pop-up toys, and always had a soft spot for his sensory bells. RB would have a go at anything once, but he was very quick to let his mummy and daddy know which his favourite toys were. He certainly knew his own mind, and had so much personality and love to give. We miss his spirit, energy and enthusiasm for life so terribly. And especially his special hugs xxxxx

Remembered by Tom Carte, The air ambulance service attended on the morning RB died. Not only did they do everything they could for Ruairi, they helped Mel and I make the most difficult decision to cease CPR attempts after a significant amount of time had passed and they supported us in telling our girls with compassion and empathy.