Natalie Ann Ellis, 17, of chesterfield Co.,died June 6, 2001. Survivors include her parents, Paul and Ella Ellis; one brother, Brian Ellis and his wife, Sally; grandparents, Richard and Nancy Ellis and William and Eleanor Fox; and everyone who was touched by Natalie. Her remains rest at the Bliley funeral Home's Chippenham Chapel, 6900 Hull Street Rd., where the family will receive friends 12 to 9 p.m. Friday, and where funeral services will be held 12:30 p.m. Saturday. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Special Olympics. We would like to thank all the nurses involved with Natalie's care for 14 years.

Natalie was born with Hypothalamic Syndrome, the malfunction of the Hypothalamic part of the brain which controls Weight, Temperature, Breathing, Fluids and Sodium. All was normal until at 4 years old she started putting on weight and looking very "puffy". Then she started having problems with getting up in the morning (very hard to wake-up) and staying away during the day. In the fall of 89 she had a Tracheotomy and was connected to a ventilator with oxygen at nights to keep her ventilated and control her CO2 build up. With each passing year Natalie's complications from Hypothalamic Syndrome worsen. In 95 she was put on a ventilator with oxygen full time and was confined to a special wheelchair that housed the ventilator and oxygen. There was someone with her at all time and she was never left alone. Natalie could not be removed from the ventilator for more then 5 to 10 minutes at a time before she would start to shut down and stop breathing. Also all during this time Natalie's Temperature, Fluids and Sodium had to be regulated very carefully. In June 2001 Natalie came down with a virus that with her complications proved to be deadly and she passed away at 1:40 AM June 6, 2001 at the Medical College of Virginia.