Charlie’s little miracle: How Sophie Tregloan is keeping her brother’s memory alive

The daughter of Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has opened up about the difficulties of grieving the loss of her brother while celebrating the start of her newborn’s life.

She’s the little ray of sunshine bringing joy into the life of a grieving family.

But precious Annabelle Charlie Tregloan, granddaughter to Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and his wife Emma, and niece to their deceased son Charlie, is lucky to be here.

Annabelle’s mother Sophie, Charlie’s sister, booked a check up at 37 weeks pregnant after sensing reduced movement with her bub and in less than four hours Annabelle was born via emergency caesarean operation.

“Annabelle was in distress and had stopped growing,” Ms Tregloan told the Sunday Mail.

“If we didn’t get her out then, she probably wouldn’t have survived.”

Annabelle was born three weeks early on March 13 weighing only 2.3kg.

“I think that day when we went to hospital to have Annabelle something was telling us that something wasn’t quite right so I think that was Charlie saying ‘get in there and get her here because we need her’,” Ms Tregloan said.

Sophie and Kieran Tregloan, with their 2 year old Ollie and baby Annabelle. Picture: Kelly Barnes

The youngest of the Stevens’ siblings, Charlie was already a stand out uncle to the couple’s two year old son, Ollie and was “so excited” to be an uncle for the second time.

“We’re lucky that Ollie got to spend some time with him but unfortunately our little girl didn’t get to meet Charlie but he’s with her, he’s definitely with her,” Ms Tregloan said.

“I remember telling Charlie (we were pregnant), he had just got home from work and I told him and he looked at me and said ‘why’, and I said ‘what do you mean why’ and he goes ‘well, Ollie’s cute what if she’s not going to be as cute?’”

‘I said, ‘I think she’ll be cute Charlie’.”

“He kept saying to me ‘if she’s anything like you Soph, you’re going to be in so much trouble.”

“Little fighter” Annabelle is already showing similarities to her ”cheeky” uncle Charlie, who’s name she carries with her.

“She’s got that little piece of Charlie with her forever and she’ll know how much he was loved and how much he would have loved her as well,” Ms Tregloan said.

“Although he’s always going to be with us, to just have that little bit of him with her to protect her.”

Grieving the loss of one life while celebrating the start of another has been beyond difficult for the combined Tregloan and Stevens family, but Annabelle and Ollie’s similarities to Charlie have helped keep his memory alive.

“When we were sitting in the little white room at Flinders and they told us we had lost Charlie, I remember mum putting her arm around me and saying you need to look after your little girl now,” Ms Tregloan said.

“That’s when it all sort of hit home.

“But these kids are so much like him, they are so cheeky.”

“They both look a lot like him when he was young which is a bit scary but if they’ve got the same attitude as him and the looks, it’s going to be interesting,” Annabelle’s father, Kieran Tregloan said.

Sophie and Kieran Tregloan, with their 2 year old Ollie and baby Annabelle. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Charlie Stevens who was struck by a car and killed on Friday 17 November 2023 during schoolies celebrations. Picture: Supplied

As Annabelle and Ollie grow up, Ms Tregloan said the family will continue to make memories and “will always talk about” their uncle Charlie.

“We will tell them what he was like, when we’re doing things what he would of done and keep reminding them that he would’ve loved them so much,” she said.

“He was so fun-loving and just lived life to the fullest.”

The beautiful little girl has already brought so much joy to the family with Sophie’s cousin Abby Price also welcoming baby boy, Dusty Charles two days before Annabelle was born.

“You have your bad days and your good days, and sometimes on your bad days it’s hard to get up but we all have to keep going for these little two,” Ms Tregloan said.

“They don’t change the fact that we lost Charlie and they don’t make it easier but it’s a nice distraction for everyone sometimes.

“When we’re having family dinners, someone will be holding one of the babies and you’ll see them just tear up and you just know they are thinking about everything that has happened and you can see Charlie in both of the babies.”

While South Australia knows Grant Stevens as the state’s Police Commissioner, away from work he is “the best” Pa to his grandchildren and, along with wife Emma, is guilty of spoiling them rotten.

“He’s good fun, always leading Ollie astray which is good and Ollie loves his time with him,” Mr Tregloan said.

“The time with him is very special, he works very long hours but when he’s home he definitely makes it worth it for those little kids,” Ms Tregloan said.

Family is more important than ever for the Tregloan’s who said they could not have made it through this tough time without the support of their “village”.

“We’re a big family … there’s a lot of us,” Ms Tregloan said.

“Everyone’s around at birthdays and Ollie goes to kinder-gym once a week so there is always another family member coming with us.

“We’re so lucky to have the best people around us.”

Grant Stevens (right) with late son Charlie and inset Annabelle Charlie Tregloan, Mr Stevens' new grandchild.

As Annabelle continues to grow into the person she will be, Mr and Ms Tregloan greatest hope for her is to be “happy, healthy and safe”.

“Life’s short so make those memories, live your life to the fullest, if you want to do something just do it, don’t wait for the next day,” Ms Tregloan said.

Dhirren Singh Randhawa, the young driver who ran down Charlie pleaded guilty to aggravated driving without due care earlier this month, with Ms Tregloan, her siblings and parents attending court.

Randhawa provided the Stevens with a letter of apology and faces a maximum 12-month prison term.

A date for sentencing submissions will be set in August.

Baby Annabelle has been nominated as South Australia’s cutest Autumn baby. Voting is currently open and will close on Thursday June 27 at 8am. To vote click here. Only one vote per subscriber allowed. You must be a digital subscriber to vote. Find the full terms and conditions here.

Originally published as Charlie’s little miracle: How Sophie Tregloan is keeping her brother’s memory alive