A "brilliant" mum has been given just 18 months to live after she fell ill whilst enjoying a meal with her family at the pub.
Sophie White, 23, from Rotherham, South , suffered a seizure "out of the blue" after she started slurring her words and couldn't speak properly. The doting mum was rushed to and underwent a number of scans. Her life was turned upside down when she was given a heartbreaking and was told that she had stage four . Sadly, she didn't respond to treatment and was told she had between 12 to 18 months to live.
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Sophie's mother, Helen Schofield, has been supporting her daughter through the terrifying time and has been looking at alternative treatments. Speaking about the moment she realised something was wrong with her daughter, she said: "We went out for a meal at a local pub.
"She started slurring her words. I thought she was messing around at first but then I realised she couldn't get her words out." Sophie was taken to Hospital on Thursday June 8, 2023, as soon as her seizure had stopped.
Helen said: "They did a few tests and scans and they said they found something on her. So many doctors were saying different things, which was all quite confusing and really scary."
After an MRI scan, it was found that Sophie had a Grade 4 Glioblastoma. Surgeries on June 23, 2023 and July 2, 2024, managed to remove 93 per cent of the tumour. But despite the operations and multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the treatment ultimately failed, .
On February 3 this year, Sophie received the devastating news that the treatment, which was meant to prolong her life, was not working. "She was given between 12 and 18 months to live," said Helen, 45. "It's so horrible to talk about. How can you?
"Her tumour has not only grown but has now spread across to the other side of her brain, which now rules out any further surgery." But for Helen, giving up is "simply not an option". She said: "As a mother I will do everything I can to try and save her life. Sophie also has a three-year-old son called Remi. Her beautiful boy needs his mum."
In a desperate attempt to prolong Sophie's life, Helen began researching treatment plans. Helen said: "After hours and hours of research, we have found a clinic in that provides immunotherapy treatment which is a targeted treatment for her specific tumour."
The I0ZK Clinic in Cologne, is full of specialists in the field of immunotherapy. The I0ZK- consists of combined treatments. Helen said: "They combine an oncolytic virus and Sophie's tumour material with dendritic cells to produce the personalised vaccine. The vaccine would then activate Sophie's immune system to help fight the tumour and get the cells back to good health and kill the cancerous ones."
Throughout the treatments, Helen has praised Sophie's incredible attitude. The determined mum added: "Whilst going through gruelling treatment to give her as much time with him as possible. She is an absolute warrior, she gets up everyday and fights so hard against this illness to make the best life for Remi. She has such a positive attitude for life and she's a fantastic mum."
So far, the family have been able to raise more than £90,000 to send Sophie on two trips to Germany, for a consultation and to receive the first round of treatment. It's now a waiting game to see if Sophie responds to the treatment.
Helen said: "She'll be having a scan in Sheffield around the first week of July. We might not see any improvement with the first scan, but we have been told that we should see improvement on the second.
"The treatment has a 65 per cent chance of working which I think is quite high, so that's why we did it. You want to do absolutely whatever you can."
To donate to the fundraiser visit .
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