A SCOTS family has launched an urgent £350,000 fundraising plea following their teenage daughter’s devastating cancer developments.
Sophie Walker was first diagnosed in 2017 when she was just ten years old, after being rushed to the hospital with a suspected stomach bug – which turned out to be a Wilms tumour on her kidney.
Although initially cured, Sophie from Loanhead, Midlothian has since gone through a gruelling recovery-relapse cycle which saw her scheduled for back surgery in December 2021.
Tragically though Sophie, now 16, relapsed again last week, and is now in the palliative stage of cancer, leaving her family to launch a search for procedures to give her a prolonged quality of life.
Identical twin Sophie first received treatment at ten years old, undergoing a gruelling seven-hour operation to remove the Wilms tumour.
The family were eventually given the all-clear from doctors and Sophie was on course for a back surgery in 2020 due to the biopsy causing her muscle issues.
This was sadly postponed due to the pandemic and the youngster sadly relapsed again at the age of just 13.
The surgery was moved to late 2021, however, the teen was forced to stop after the cancer tragically returned in May 2022, affecting her spine, nerves, blood vessels, lung, ribs and gut.
With the latest relapse last Wednesday the family have no other option but chemotherapy available on the NHS.
As such, they now have their hopes pinned on brachytherapy – a procedure outside the UK involving a radioactive needle inserted into the patient’s spine with the aim of destroying cancerous cells.
If successful, this would be followed by T-cell therapy – lab modified immune cells which attack cancerous ones.
However, this procedure is not currently available on the NHS and the family are in a race against time to raise the hefty £350,000 required.
Mum Rebecca Walker, 43, set up a GoFundMe last week which reads: “Sophie is an identical twin and has been battling Wilms tumour since she was 10-years-old.
“She is now 16 and has encountered a series of unfortunate events with her treatments.
“She was cured after her first treatment but relapsed to her back muscle because of her biopsy.
“She was due to have surgery again in December 2021 – she sadly relapsed again in May 2022 whilst on treatment.
“She has relapsed again to the same area but the NHS can’t offer much hope and there’s not much promising clinical trials available at the time.
“So, it would be palliative chemo to buy time, which wouldn’t give her much quality of life.
“We have reached out to a few different medical facilities around the world and have been told of a very promising procedure that would still be curative for Sophie.
“We haven’t been given a final figure so have set out a target at their ball park figure until we finalise the costs.
“This is the final chance for our daughter’s life and we are absolutely at everyone’s mercy.
“Please, if you can help, it will be greatly appreciated. Even if you can only donate £1, get in touch, I will set up a PayPal for this.”
In an update on Sunday, mum-of-ten Rebecca added: “Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to donate, share, send messages of support and arrange other fundraisers for Sophie.
“We have had wonderful news from our oncology team that they have found a team of four surgeons to do surgery to remove Sophie’s tumour.
“This is only the first step in her treatment and surgery alone is sadly not a cure. They are also looking into treatment options for her and this is not restricted to the UK.
“They are 100% behind us and know we are raising funds for treatment abroad and will help guide us on any treatment options we find.
“Thank you again.”
Speaking today Rebecca said: “Sophie is full of life and loves a practical joke. She does her make-up everyday and loves fashion.
“She loves spending time with family and her friend, Chelsea, who has been there for her throughout all her treatments.
“She loves to travel and we often visit our friends the Radford’s, Sophie is friends with their children.
“She spends most of her time shopping and having her nails done. She loves family days out too.
“When she was diagnosed with relapse last Wednesday they couldn’t really offer us any treatments and weren’t keen to do surgery.
“Her tumour is very operable, so we decided to reach out to different hospitals based on recommendations from other families.
“We returned the following day for a biopsy and her consultant was a lot more positive and told us she was doing surgery but wanted to find the best surgeons.
“This doesn’t change us taking Sophie abroad for treatment. My husband has contacted a few hospitals in America and we are waiting on our hospital emailing over all of Sophie’s medical information.
“It all has to go through international referrals before consultations. If Sophie has surgery here then we would maybe look at European hospitals as well.
“We need the best possible treatment for Sophie. The treatment we initially looked at was given at two hospitals in America.
“It’s terrifying being left to find treatments, fundraise for them and take your child abroad alone. Without the backup of your hospital.”
At the time of writing, the fundraiser has received £18,445.
To donate, you can visit here: https://gofund.me/200e50b3
