Claire Spencer

Our Claire is an entity like no other – totally joyous in life and loves all things, from flowers to bubbles – she is a teacher to us all on how to live life. John Spencer (her daddy). You will live forever in our memories and hearts. The world needs you to come back and take charge. For one so young to be a spiritual giant is more than an amazing thing.

This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Claire Spencer who was born in Australia on June 16, 2006 and passed away on June 06, 2008. She is a spiritual giant who loves all things and was never selfish, despite her tender years. Claire would light up the faces of old folks, the lonely and dispossessed and would make anybody or any creature smile. Claire is the absolute vision of the joy of life and love.

She loved to explore, read and sing. She was the only one who loved daddy’s singing and always asked, “daddy more, please.” In life Claire brought joy to all whose paths she crossed, animals and humans alike. She had a spiritual awareness far beyond that of most people. In May of 2008, while she was in Taiwan, Buddhist nuns bowed to her, against common custom, as they recognised her spirituality. The preceding Christmas Claire did a wonderful job of welcoming the baby Jesus during a Church pantomime. 

Despite her tender years Claire provided a huge inspiration to others because of her happy, positive nature and a total lack of selfishness that is very rare in young children. She was always happy to share with others and offer comfort where she could. If the vast majority of humanity followed her example the world would be a much better place.

Timeline
Born in Australia on June 16, 2006.
Place of birth – Pindarra Hospital, Gold Coast, Australia
Time of birth – 8.54 p.m.
Weight at birth – 3140 gms

2007
Claire was consistently in the top ten percent for height according to age and was in the middle of the weight range. She was diagnosed with low muscle tone as a baby and was under the care of a physiotherapist for a while but, when she started walking at 16 months, this quickly disappeared. Claire’s speech was good and she was bilingual in English and Mandarin.

2008
At the end of January Claire started at a local kindergarten and was very popular with the other children and the teachers because of her kind and happy nature.

On the evening of March 26 Claire suffered a severe febrile convulsion. Her breathing stopped for 30 seconds. An ambulance was called, she was stabilised and taken to a private hospital. They sent her home with instructions to take Panadol to lower her temperature. Back at home she had another more minor febrile convulsion and then, several hours later, another more severe one. Again an ambulance was called and this time she was taken to the public hospital. Claire had to wait in the Emergency department for a number of hours. At about nine in the morning of the 27th March she had yet another severe febrile convulsion, in full view of several doctors. From that moment her situation was taken seriously and she was admitted to the children’s ward for 24 hours observation. The final diagnosis was that the febrile convulsions resulted from a high temperature caused by an unknown virus. Claire had experienced four febrile convulsions in a 12 hour period.

With the judicious use of Panadol Claire quickly recovered. We had had to delay a planned trip to Taiwan and the UK for almost a week but then were able to proceed. Claire was completely well and had a wonderful time. She met her relatives in Taiwan and the UK and her speech in both languages went ahead in leaps and bounds. As well as bringing joy to all manner of people, especially the elderly and lonely, she demonstrated a love of flowers and bubbles. She always loved animals and Nature. On returning home from the trip Claire remained well with nothing more than the occasional sniffle. She was as happy as ever as and never more so than during her last two days on this earth.

At about 8:10 pm she went to bed and after saying, “Night night Mummy, Night night Daddy” and “I love you Mummy, I love you Daddy,” went to sleep. When her mummy checked on her just over an hour later her face and feet were cold. She had already gone. Resucitation attempts by ourselves and the paramedics proved fruitless. Claire was a victim of SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood). She passed away on June 06, 2008 at the age of 1 year, 11 months and 21 days.