Teenage Stab Victim's Family Donate £5k To Brighton Critical Care Unit

In a gesture of gratitude and remembrance, the family of teenager has come forward with a generous donation of £5,000 to the Critical Care Unit at the Royal County Sussex Hospital.

 The donation was a thank you for their outstanding care. 

Charlie, from Milford in Surrey, was rushed to the Royal County Sussex Hospital on July 25 after he was attacked with a knife at an end-of-term party held at a farmhouse in Warnham, West Sussex. Despite the tireless efforts of Critical Care staff, Charlie tragically died from his injuries two days later.  

Charlie's parents, Martin and Tara, along with his younger sister Eloise, returned to the hospital on October 17 to meet with Critical Care staff and present the donation in person. 

Martin Cosser told staff:

“Words cannot express our gratitude for the dedication and care you gave to Charlie during his time in hospital. We had nothing but support and compassion from you and your colleagues. I can’t tell you what that means to us.

“To have to walk into a room and tell our family that Charlie wasn’t going to survive is a very, very difficult thing to do, but you did that with the utmost care and we will always be grateful for that. While he may no longer be with us, Charlie’s memory lives on through the love and support we received from the incredible staff here. We hope that this donation will make a difference in the lives of others and serve as a tribute to our son's memory." 

Charlie’s mother, Tara, added:

“You never left him alone for one second, and you gave him a fighting chance. Thank you.” 

The donation will contribute to ensuring that other patients and their families receive the same exceptional level of care during their most challenging moments. Charlie’s friends have also set up a fundraising page raising more than £30,000 to date for Lives Not Knives, a charity dedicated to preventing youth violence in London.  

The Royal County Sussex Hospital and its Critical Care staff expressed their profound gratitude for the generosity of the Cosser family.

Clare Hebditch, Head of Nursing for Critical Care said:

“This amazing gesture of thanks means the world to the Critical Care team. To know that Charlie’s family wanted to come back to the hospital, to not only thank us, but to donate to our Trust’s dedicated charity, means an awful lot.

"To hear that our care made a difference is uplifting for the whole team who were deeply affected by Charlie’s passing. This donation will now go to support the patient experience on the Critical Care unit.”

Steve Crump, Director of Charities for My University Hospitals Sussex, said:

"In the face of tragedy, the Cosser family's generosity shines as a beacon of hope and remembrance. Their donation will not only support the care staff at our hospitals provide, but also inspire positive change in our community.

"We are deeply grateful for their kindness and commitment to honouring Charlie's memory."

Aside from fundraising, Martin plans to keep Charlie’s memory alive through his campaign to educate youngsters about the perils of knife crime and to address the challenges in the criminal justice system.

Martin said:

“When Charlie was in hospital, I whispered in his ear the most important promise I’ve ever made in my entire life. I promised him I would make it my life’s work to talk in schools and to young people about the devastating impact of knife crime on families.  

“Charlie wasn’t in a gang, he wasn’t a fighter. He didn’t even like raised voices. If this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. So, I’ll be starting a charity in the New Year called, ‘Think Twice’ in memory of Charlie to raise awareness of knife crime.” 

“I also want to see change around the law in this country which currently provides anonymity to perpetrators, aged 16 and 17 years old, who plead guilty to murder, or have been found guilty of murder in a court of law. At the moment, the decision to release names is down to a judge. Our family has had no anonymity at all. Everything seems to favour the defendant. I want to introduce ‘Cosser’s Law’ to help protect families from going through what we’ve experienced.”

To support the fundraising page for Knives Not Lives in memory of Charlie, please visit:
www.gofundme.com/f/fh4c4-knife-crime