Ed Sheeran pays tribute to terminally ill superfan Melody who has sadly passed away
Very sad news
Last updated 6th Jul 2018
Over recent years pop star Ed Sheeran has got to know one of his superfans, Melody Driscoll, who was terminally ill with Rett syndrome - a rare, life-limiting neurological disorder. This afternoon (4th July) the news has come that Melody has sadly passed away, and Ed has taken to Instagram to pay tribute to the little girl.
Simply captioning the photo of the pair he said ,'Rest in peace beautiful Melody x'.
Two years ago, Ed visited the then nine-year-old girl in the hospital where she was being treated. Melody was beside herself when Ed turned up at Epsom Hospital in Surrey and even performed a couple of tracks for her.
After visiting her again last year, earlier this year, Ed donated a signed guitar to 11-year-old Melody, who could no longer walk or talk.
The doctors at London King's College Hospital told Melody's parents, Karina and Nigel, that they needed to withdraw Melody from her pain relief. This left her parents gearing up for a legal battle so they hoped they could auction off Ed's guitar to help raise the £50,000 needed for legal fees.
At the time they shared photos of Melody holding the signed guitar, the message read, 'We thought it would be nice to get a few pictures of Melody with Ed Sheeran’s guitar we are auctioning off so everyone can see why we are doing it. For this beautiful little girl right here.
'We are still waiting to hear from a few people regarding the way forward with Ed’s guitar. Once we know the fine details ALL WILL BE REVEALED'. sic
After meeting Melody back in 2016, it seems that the 'Castle On The Hill' singer and the little girl had a close relationship with Ed sending her regular messages. Karina told The Independent, “They have a really close relationship, Ed sends Melody video messages and he bought her an iPad so she can listen to his music."
She then added, "She absolutely loves him, in hospital she is surrounded by him, she has an Ed Sheeran pillow, an Ed Sheeran doll."
Rest in peace Melody, our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.