SUFFERING with stomach cramps and abnormal bleeding, doctors put Sophie Fairall’s symptoms down to the start of her period.
In July 2020, the 10-year-old felt unwell and had been struggling to eat in the morning when she woke up.
Her mum Charlotte said this was on and off for around a month, but said their GP had dismissed the symptoms as being down to Sophie’s menstrual cycle.
Charlotte was unhappy with the diagnosis so took her daughter to A&E and was shocked to discover that she had a lump.
Her little girl was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer – rhabdomyosarcoma.
Sophie had been an inspiration and raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity.
Read more on childhood cancer
Sadly, she died in September 2021 after going through a range of surgeries.
Speaking on This Morning, mum Charlotte recalled how medics revealed that Sophie had a 12cm tumour in her abdomen.
Sophie was rushed into surgery and due to coronavirus restrictions, Charlotte, Sophie’s dad Gareth and her two siblings were forced to spend weeks away from Sophie.
“They said to me it’s cancer and they’ve managed to remove 95 per cent of the tumour but they couldn’t remove it all, so then we started treatment with chemo.
“She was quite adamant that they were going to make her better. She kept saying ‘”Doctors make you better and I know they will for me”.
“She just had that positive outlook all the way through. She painted ceramics while in hospital because she wanted more toys and activities”, Charlotte said.
Sophie had to go through several surgeries as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
In June last year, Sophie’s cancer returned and the family decided to draw up a list of activities she could do.
These included cooking with TV chef Gordon Ramsey, and raising £50,000 for the children’s cancer charity Alice’s Arc.
But the most important thing on little Sophie’s bucket list, her mum said, was to make a change for other families who have to deal with childhood cancer.
Sophie wanted to create a greater awareness of cancer symptoms in children and a House of Commons debate is today being held into childhood cancer outcomes.
