HARROWING REAL LIFE
When Jamie Patterson, 38, from Cramlington, saw her daughter change, she didn’t know the truth behind closed doors...
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I’d caught sight of a huge spider.
‘Paul, come and get rid of this for me!’ I shouted to my hubby, now 41, not wanting to pick it up for myself.
‘No! I want to keep it,’ our daughter Charley smiled, taking it into her cupped hands.
Ever since ayoung age, she’d always been interested in animals, even down to the smallest ant on the pavement, wanting to look after it.
That’s something that her siblings Sophie, now 22, Kylah, now 20, Callum, now 19, and Jake, now 14, weren’t so keen on!
But Charley didn’t mind.
She even had her own catchphrase as a toddler…
‘I do it by my own,’ she’d mutter, which would melt my heart every single time.
And that caring, independent personality definitely continued through her primary school years.
Loving all things history and getting involved in PE lessons, she was a real firecracker –outgoing and confident.
Which made her pretty popular with her classmates.
With plenty of great friends, Charley loved going to school, unlike other children her age.
So, when it came to moving to secondary school, she was actually excited to get stuck in.
Grabbing her bike, she’d cycle with Jake as he walked to primary school before they parted to go their separate ways.
‘Hi Mum, we’re home,’ Jake shouted bursting through the front door just after 3pm.
Yet, instead of bearing a smile, Charley shuffled in afew metres behind him, before running straight upstairs to her bedroom.
And that wasn’t the only cause of concern –me and Paul noticed that Charley really wasn’t herself.
Instead of hanging out with her friends, she didn’t want to go, and instead of showing her bubbly, charming side, she had started to become withdrawn.
Only, with experience of the girls already going through secondary school, Iknew just how difficult that time could be –the hormones, puberty, schoolwork, and friendship groups all changing.
‘I’m fine, ’ she insisted, saying everything was OK.
Yet, normally going to Paul for all of her troubles, a real daddy’s girl, she still wouldn’t open up.
Charley really wasn’t herself
That was until one day, just weeks after joining secondary school in 2019, she broke down in front of me.
‘My friendship group is changing, those who I thought were my friends aren’t,’ she sobbed, letting me know what had been getting her down.
However, that wasn’t the only thing going on.
‘Can I talk to you about something?’ Jake asked.
‘Of course, what’s up?’ I said, k
