[2] She was nicknamed "Miraculous Baby Charlotte" by her fellow New Zealanders as a result of making headlines worldwide after recuperating from a series of life-threatening complications.

[5] On the morning of 17 June 2004, Cleverley-Bisman vomited and acted distressed; her parents assumed this to be due to anticipated teething pains.

By mid-morning, she had developed a small skin blemish on her neck, and her mother rushed her to the doctor's office, where staff diagnosed meningococcemia.

[6][7] On the second day in hospital, her doctors predicted that, if she lived at all, Cleverley-Bisman would need to have at least both legs and most of her left hand amputated in order to save her life from gangrene.

During the three weeks while doctors waited for the demarcation between dead and living flesh to become clearer, her catheters became clogged several times and needed to be replaced via additional surgery.

[5] Donors gave money to defray the Cleverley-Bismans' expenses, beginning with NZ$1000 from the Jassy Dean Trust, set up in 1992 in the aftermath of another girl dying from meningococcal disease.

The primary mission of the trust was to provide for Cleverley-Bisman's life necessities, and the secondary goal of the foundation is to increase awareness of meningitis/meningococcal disease.