SPEAK OUT

Jamie Patterson, 37, from Cramlington, saw her daughter change before her eyes, not knowing the events that were going on behind closed doors...

- ELLIE FAWCETT AND ANAIS SEELY

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I'd caught sight of a spider.

'Paul, come and get rid of this for me!' I shouted to my hubby, 40, not wanting to pick it up for myself.

'No! I want to keep it,' our daughter Charley smiled, taking it into her cupped hands.

Ever since a young age, she'd always been interested in animals even down to the smallest ant on the pavement, wanting to look after them.

That's something that her siblings Jake, now 11, Callum, now 17, Kylah, now 18, and Sophie, now 20, weren't so keen on!

But Charley didn't mind, she even had her own catchphrase as a toddler...

'I do it by my own,' she'd mutter, which would melt my heart every single time.

And that caring, independent personality definitely continued through her primary school years, too.

Loving all things history and getting involved in PE lessons, she was a real firecracker-outgoing and confident.

Which made her pretty popular with her classmates.

With plenty of great friends, Charley loved going to school, unlike other children her age.

So, when it came to moving to secondary school, she was actually excited to get stuck in.

Grabbing her bike, she'd cycle with Jake as he walked to primary school before they parted to go their separate ways. 'Hi Mum, we're home, Jake shouted bursting through the front door just after 3pm.

Yet, instead of bearing a smile, Charley shuffled in a few metres behind him, before running straight upstairs to her bedroom.

And that wasn't the only cause of concern-me and Paul noticed that Charley really wasn't herself.

Instead of hanging out with her friends, she didn't want to go, and instead of showing her bubbly, charming side, she had started to become withdrawn.