Sophie's Story

"Our daughter Sophie was diagnosed with cancer (Rhabdomyosarcoma) in September 2020 aged 9. She had been unwell for a few months with stomach pain, nausea, sickness and finally bleeding which was put down to her first period. As Sophie's mum I knew something wasn't right abd after taking her to A and E they found a 12cm tumour on her abdomen. Sophie went through major surgery to remove most of the tumour, 9 rounds of chemotherapy, 7 weeks of radiotherapy. Sophie had started on maintenance chemo but sadly after 8 weeks she relapsed. We tried palliative chemo to give us more time but sadly this didn't work. We made the decision in July 2021 to stop all treatment. Sophie knew she was dying and set out writing a bucket list. She achieved most of the things apart from long term changes such as feeding parents in hospital. Sophie died at home on 18th September 2021 aged 10. Since Sophie died we have been determined to make a difference. We set up a charity called Sophie's Legacy and now support families in hospital. We are also working with the government and NHS to make national changes. We managed to get the first debate in the House of Commons on childhood cancer in April this year. Children and young people like Sophie and Ben deserved so much more. The impact since Sophie has died has been immense. Sophie was the middle of three daughters we had. It has significantly impacted them. As parents our lives are changed forever as we learn to live with this huge loss. We're so grateful for charities like Ben Saunders Foundation for giving us much needed family time to come together and create memories whilst remembering Sophie. She'll always be part of our lives even though she's not physically with us."