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Seven-year-old Marshall Clark was diagnosed with Late Infantile Batten Disease when he was only four years old.
Batten Disease is a rare, but fatal, “neurodegenerative disorder” that starts during childhood – often between the ages of two and four.
For Marshall, within a year-and-a-half of being diagnosed, his condition had deteriorated so much that he lost his ability to see or communicate. Every night, he would suffer from seizures and every day, he experienced tremors so severe, he was unable to feed himself.
But despite Marshall’s failing body, he never cried, he never whined, and he never gave up trying to live his life to the fullest.
His grandmother, Elsie, said that Marshall was always looking for new ways to care for himself, regardless of his condition. He would eat with two forks, instead of with a fork and a knife; he learned to crawl when walking caused him to fall over 40 times a day.
What everyone remembered most fondly of Marshall, however, was the fact that he just never stopped smiling.
Marshall passed away on October 29 in his mother’s arms, by Elsie’s side.
Afterward, Elsie posted a touching letter from Marshall to all of his friends, family, and supporters who had stayed by his side the entire time. In it, Marshall asks that no one feel sorry for him, because going to Heaven means that he is “no longer trapped in a body that stopped [him] from enjoying [his] childhood.”
Marshall’s funeral will be held on November 8, when he would have turned eight. His family is requesting for guests to not bring gifts, and instead donate to support Woodland’s Special School, where Marshall was once a student.
You can read Marshall’s full letter here:
