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Family finally visits sunflower planted by Duchess of Cambridge in memory of their son

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, helps to pot plants during a visit to The Nook in the village of Framlingham Earl, south of Norwich, eastern England on June 25, 2020, which is one of the three East Anglia Children's Hospices (EACH). - The Duchess is the Royal Patron of the charity which offers care and support for children and young people with life-threatening conditions and their families across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. The Duchess of Cambridge on June 25 joined families from East Anglias Childrens Hospices (EACH) to plant a garden using plants purchased during her June 18 visit to Fakenham garden centre. (Photo by Joe Giddens / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JOE GIDDENS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Kate helping to plant flowers during her visit to the Nook. (Getty Images)

The family of a young boy who died in a hospice has visited the sunflower planted in his memory by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Kate promised the Delf family she would plant the flower for Fraser, who died in January at the age of nine, during a Zoom call to mark Children’s Hospice Week.

She made good on her promise when she visited The Nook, one of East Anglia Children’s Hospices, and now the Delfs have been able to see the flower for themselves.

The flower was moved to the Milton EACH, where Fraser spent the last few weeks of his life.

They wore pink, one of his favourite colours, during the trip.

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His mother, Carla, said: “The sunflower looks so bright and beautiful, just like Fraser. The centre looks like a heart shape, just perfect.

“I recently saw a poem that said sunflowers choose to live their brightest lives as they know they won’t be around for long and that really fits with Fraser.”

On the call with Kate in June, Fraser’s brother Stuie told the duchess about his fundraising efforts, as he ran 5k every day throughout the month, raising more than £16,000 for the hospice that looked after his brother.

Stuie told Kate and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who was also on the call, that he was inspired by Captain Tom Moore, who raised millions of pounds for the NHS walking in his garden before his 100th birthday.

The Delfs spent seven weeks living in the hospice with Fraser before he died as a result of Coats plus syndrome, a rare condition that affects multiple organs and causes brain abnormalities.

Kate planted the sunflower at the end of June as part of a sensory garden she designed and planted for the EACH hospice in Norwich.

She has been a patron of East Anglia Children’s Hospices since 2012.

The sunflower has been adopted as the emblem of hospice care, with the seeds representing the patients and the petals representing love, care and compassion.