The Apprentice finalist Charleine Wain reveals cot death heartbreak
Charleine wears a dragonfly necklace to keep her twin boy close to her heart
Charleine Wain has opened up about the sudden death of her baby son that completely changed her life. The Apprentice finalist lost her 3-month-old son Caylan to cot death in October 2007. Caylan was born premature with his twin brother Ethan but died of sudden infant death syndrome just 3 months later.
The tragedy led to the 31-year-old quitting the Royal Navy as she didn't want to be away from her children, Ethan, Maia and stepson Matthew.
"If I didn't have my husband Scott, I think I would have cracked. I was so low and so rock bottom," she told The Mirror. "It was a really hard place to be in. It was really difficult.
"If I could have continued to do the job without going to sea then maybe things would have been different, but there was not a chance I would leave the children."
Instead, the 31-year-old from Neath, South Wales, decided to open her own beauty salon so she could have more family time.
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"I knew I needed to focus on a new career path. I decided I wanted my own salon. For the first year I would work with the Navy Monday to Friday and then sneak off in my trainers to wash someone's hair."
Charleine opened Maiya's Hair, Beauty and Photography in November 2010.
"I see my hairdressing and hair salon as a representation of something so good coming off something so tragic and so bad. I just want to make it as successful as I can.
"I always knew I wanted to do as well as I possibly could because amazing things can come as a result of terrible situations."
But Charleine still keeps her son close to her heart – wearing a dragonfly necklace around her neck as a reminder. "My dragonfly necklace is the way that I carry my little boy around with me," she said.
Husband Scott said, "It is just a reminder really because we will never, ever forget our son.
"She wears it close to her heart and he is always close to our hearts."
Charleine is now in the final of The Apprentice and will face the interview stage next week.
Photos: BBC
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