The 13-year-old with Dravet Syndrome who inspired the popular CBD brand passed away from complications associated with COVID-19.
Charlotte Figi came to fame as the sweet little girl who suffered hundreds of seizures a day from a rare condition called Dravet Syndrome. She was the patient that inspired the Colorado-based Stanley Brothers to create the cannabidiol (CBD) heavy version of cannabis to treat her condition back in 2011. The response was somewhat miraculous.
Unfortunately, Charlotte has passed away from COVID 19 at the age of 13. According to reports, she had tested positive and went to the hospital. She was released on Sunday, but apparently took a turn for the worse and returned. A family friend posted on Facebook “Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever.” The family has requested privacy.
Charlotte’s parents were willing to take chances with cannabis as a treatment and their bravery resulted in the migration of many families to Colorado seeking the same treatment. She was featured in the now-famous CNN episode where she was treated on camera and millions were able to see with their own eyes the response CBD had on epileptic patients. She was six years old at the time and had been suffering from seizures since the age of three.
RELATED: You Should Reconsider Using Store-Bought CBD To Treat Seizures
Colorado legalized medical marijuana and then adult-use marijuana causing the state to become the home of many cannabis companies. Stanley Brothers eventually changed the name of their company to Charlotte’s Web (OTC:CWBHF), the strain that was named after Charlotte. The company has ultimately captured 20% of the CBD market and is now a publicly-traded company with a market cap of $452 million. The company’s website posted the following message:
Charlotte was ten feet tall and carried the world on her shoulders.
Inspiring is a lacking word, as are courageous and vivacious and strong and beautiful.
She was divine.
She grew, cultivated by a community, protected by love, demanding that the world witness her suffering so that they might find a solution. She rose every day, awakening others with her courage, and with that smile that infected your spirit at the cellular level.
The infinite compassion of community members who sacrificed their time, resources, and ideas to tend her garden of love were instrumental in her care, but there was no one more committed than the selfless Paige, both a mother and a warrior, both a human and an angel. Charlotte’s cause was her family’s cause and created a foundation of plant-based health that breathed life into their daughter, and the countless sons and daughters like her.
Charlotte, then, became everyone’s daughter or sister or friend and enlivened empathy and love from anyone who had the privilege of hearing her story, as millions did. Her story built communities, her need built hope, and her legacy will continue to build harmony.
To Paige, Matt, Greg, Max, and Chase – we are humbled by your grace, as the fruits of your kindness have fed the world with love.
She was a light that lit the world. She was a little girl who carried us all on her small shoulders.
Her legacy lives in the garden, in the blooming of ideas, in the fragrance of compassion, in the greenery of nurturing us to be better humans in all ways, always.
What began as her story, became the shared story of hundreds of thousands, and the inspiration of many millions more in the journey of their betterment. Charlotte was and will be, the heartbeat of our passion, and the conviction that the dignity and health of a human being is their right.
Charlotte, you are the light of our lives.
Thank you for your life, your bravery, and your beautiful soul.
We love you, Charlie.
-Joel, Jared, Jesse, Jon, Jordan, Josh, and Austin Stanley
This article originally appeared on Green Market Report.
