Walsall mother’s art tribute in memory of Kimora

Charlotte Edie, from Walsall, has designed the colourful display – with a tree at its centre – on the window at Walsall Creative Factory in Westbourne Street.

The 33-year-old has created the piece in memory of her daughter Kimora Edie, who died from neuroblastoma in October 2018 aged three-and-a-half.

Charlotte said: “The window display, I made it so it’s a colourful tree – a tree of hope – and very bright and eye-catching for the children.

“It’s in memory of Kimora and it’s got her photos in the window and we thought it would be nice to add the names of other children. It means so much to the families.

“I wanted to get a serious message across too, so we’ve surrounded the tree with lots of felt hearts – the community really got involved with it.

“The hearts are split into three groups of children – some who have passed away, some who are having treatment, and some that have finished their treatment.

“There’s 50 names on there and the majority are from Birmingham Children’s Hospital and most of the families we’ve met on our personal journey.”

The window display has been completed with a list of symptoms of childhood cancer – but not those which have been found online, symptoms from families’ experience.

Ms Edie said families had a “fight” to get their child diagnosed due to the symptoms often being mis-diagnosed as a normal child illness.

And she – along with other families – have put together a list of signs and symptoms to look out for based on their experiences.

Ms Edie said she was “very happy” with how the project turned out and praised the women who run Walsall Creative Factory for their help.

“I told them my vision and they’ve really supported me and helped – and even put out a notice to ask if any other ladies who go to the centre want to get involved,” she said.

“There’s been lots of different abilities on show – some people have embroidered for the first time, but the main thing is that there’s so much love.”