Prince Harry has been making a lot of news lately for his adorable relationship with Meghan Markle, and while that’s wonderful and all, we mustn’t forget that in addition to his love life, he’s also a truly great person.
Really, just the best.
He’s always taken his royal duties seriously, and he also always been great with children and animals and veterans and … well, everyone and everything.
But earlier this week, Harry took some time to visit with a couple of terminally ill children, two siblings that are suffering from Batten disease.
And it’s just the sweetest, most heartbreaking thing we’ve seen in a very long time.
Batten disease is a rare genetic disorder that affects the nervous system. People who suffer from the disease deal with seizures, problems with vision and motor function, as well as personality changes.
Eventually the disease causes patients to lose the ability to walk and talk, and eventually to breathe. It most commonly affects children, and most of those affected don’t live past the age of 12.
It sounds like a horrible, horrible disease, and six-year-old Ollie suffers from it, along with his little sister, Amelia.
But thankfully, Harry was able to bond with the two children, and it sounds like his visit meant a lot to them.
On Ollie’s Facebook page, his parents explained that last October, the little boy won The Most Inspirational Child award at the Wellchild Awards, and while he was there, he met Harry.
“What happened that day was truly magical,” they wrote, “Ollie used all of his strength to stand on two feet to give Prince Harry a huge hug.”
“We truly believe in that moment a bond was made between Ollie and Prince Harry.”
Shortly after the awards ceremony, Ollie and Amelia were approved to try a new experimental treatment for the disease, and they wrote a letter to Harry about it.
They also thanked him “for giving our son the strength to stand when we thought this was no longer possible.”
On Tuesday, the children were at a hospital getting that treatment when Harry stopped by for a visit.
Their parents wrote that “For an hour Prince Harry sat with us talking and playing with our children, laughing and making memories, The very thing our children want the most in life, to be happy and having fun.”
“We feel so much pride knowing that Ollie and Amelia are touching the lives of the people they meet, with their love and strength.”
“The love, the support and the laughter within that treatment room on Tuesday will stay with us forever.”
“From the bottom of our hearts,” they continued, “we thank Prince Harry for his support, his time and his kindness towards our family and our journey with Batten Disease.”
“It was truly incredible to watch him with our children and to have the opportunity to talk with him about our journey with Battens.”
Since the family shared their story and their precious photos, so many people have been moved by it all.
Many of them have compared Harry to his mother, the late Princess Diana, and it’s easy to see why.
That Meghan Markle sure did land herself a catch, didn’t she?
