Funeral held for 'Butterfly' brothers who died days apart

Version 0 of 1.

The funeral of two young brothers who died two days apart has been held.

Harry and Cody Churchill, aged three and 21 months, had the rare skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB) and died on March 13 and March 15.

EB makes the skin very weak and young sufferers are sometimes called "butterfly children" because their skin is fragile like a butterfly's wing.

Family and friends gathered for the funeral at a church at St Aldhelms Church in Poole, Dorset earlier.

The colourful celebration of the boys' lives featured some of their favourite characters.

'Magical and amazing'

It included a guard of honour of stormtroopers from Star Wars and the pop song Gangnam Style, a favourite of three-year-old Harry, was also played.

The boys' coffins were also colourfully decorated. Parents Chris and Steph Churchill also read poems during the service.

Staff from Poole Hospital's children's ward described the boys as "magical" and "amazing".

A minute's applause was held for the boys at AFC Bournemouth's league one match against Bury on Saturday.

In a post on Facebook, the family said they were grateful for "every single message of love at this sad time".