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My little girl, Sophia, was just two years old when she was put on intensive treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). It was a lot for her small body to take and today, two years on from completing treatment, she is still suffering from its side effects. Her chemotherapy caused nerve damage and has left her with a persistent tremor in her hands. So the small tasks, like gripping a pen, opening a packet of crisps, or doing up buttons are a struggle for Sophia. Another procedure caused her to have a major seizure which caused significant damage to her brain. We still aren’t sure of the exact impact of this damage, but we have noticed that she has trouble with her memory sometimes. To monitor this and her other side effects, we will need to take Sophia for check-ups for at least 10 years. It breaks my heart that she although she has already been through so much, the side effects will affect her throughout her childhood. My Sophia is so resilient, but now that she is at school she has started to notice that she is slightly different to her friends. She can’t write quite like they do, and she struggles in P.E. lessons. I always let her know that taking part and trying her best makes her a winner. I never want her to feel like her side effects are stopping her from achieving anything she wants to. Please donate this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to help fund research into developing less harmful treatments so that children like my Sophia can survive and grow up happy and healthy.Gemma, Sophia’s mum
Sophia's story
Sophia was diagnosed with infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in June 2017.
Read Sophia's story and watch her video.
Improving treatments for leukaemia
We’re funding new research to treatments for leukaemia, led by Professor Tariq Enver, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and a world leader in the field of leukaemia.
Looking for new treatmentsWe're here to help so please don't hesitate in contacting us:
info@childrenwithcancer.org.uk | 0800 222 9000 |