Brave 7-year-old pens goodbye letter to his loved ones

A seven-year-old boy from Plymouth in England wrote a heart-breaking letter to his family and friends before he passed away from a rare disease last week. In the moving letter a brave Marshall Clark wrote that he will now be able to enjoy getting on fun rides, eat delicious strawberry’s and run around as much he wants to – all things he wasn’t able to do in his short life on earth. Marshall’s normal life as a child came to an end when he was diagnosed with Batten disease, which affects the body’s central nervous system, three years ago.

For ten months he was confined to a bed where he eventually died just days before his eighth birthday. In this time Marshall lost his sight, mobility and speech.

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Shortly after his death his family shared his heart-breaking final letter with family and loved ones on his grandmother’s blog.

"He is in heaven now,” wrote his family alongside his letter. “This was his hell and now he is free."

“Dear friends,” began Marshall’s final letter. “This will be my last message here because by the time you read this I will be in heaven.”

“It’s okay because nana has told me all about it and about all the wonderful things I will be able to do when I am there.”

Due to his illness Marshall was trapped in his own body. He also suffered regular bouts of fits and couldn’t eat by myself anymore.

He was literally wasting away in front of his family.

Marshall’s grandmother, a trained nurse, helped to look after him.

“His determination and his happiness throughout it all has just amazed me,” she said according to Mail Online.

Marshall wrote in his letter that he looked forward to being in heaven because there he would be able to run around eat strawberries and cupcakes, just like any other child his age.

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“I was worried that I would miss the people I love so much and that would make me sad but nana told me that the love people have for me is so strong it will be like they are there with me.”

His grandmother says that in spite of Marshall’s illness he never complained, cried or gave up. “And even when he was bed-bound, unable to move or talk, he continued to smile.”

In his final letter he wrote about how much he enjoyed it when his grandmother would read messages and letters that people had written him.

“You have been with me and supported me and loved me and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“But now I have to say goodbye.”