A Hollywood family has suffered a tragic loss.
Television producer Gordon Gray and wife Kristen Gray shared that their daughter Charlotte died following a battle with Batten disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder with no known cure. She was 13.
"It’s with the heaviest heart that we share our sweet Charlotte has earned her angel wings," read a message on the couple's Facebook page for their Cure Batten foundation. "She was surrounded by family and so much love."
In the wake of Fourth of July, Kristen and Gordon—who has produced Mare of Easttown, The Way Back and The Rookie—noted that “it is not lost on us that as we celebrated Independance Day, Charlotte too regained her independence. She is set free from the restraints that #battendisease set upon her."
The family continued, "She is looking down on us now smiling, running, jumping on the trampoline, swimming and eating all of her favorite foods!"
Charlotte was diagnosed with Batten disease at the age of 4 in 2015, along with her younger sister Gwenyth, then 2.
The inherited metabolic disorder affects one's ability to get rid of cellular waste, so lipids and proteins build up in the body, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The buildup causes issues in the nervous system, including seizures and death.
Doctors told the Grays that the neurodegenerative disease would progress into their tween years and "leave the girls blind, immobile, cognitively impaired, and ultimately gone between the ages of 6 and 12," Kristen wrote on the foundation's website.
Though the diagnosis was met with "pure devastation” from Kristen, she said Charlotte always kept her head up amid the difficult health journey.
"One thing has remained constant with Charlotte and that is her happiness," she explained. "She loves her family and friends and greets everyone she meets with a smile. As parents, we never want to take away that smile so a cure is our focus."
Gordon and Kristen continue to work toward finding a cure through their Charlotte and Gwenyth Gray Foundation, which funds research and financially supports impacted families.