Community rallies for 'inspirational' Stubbington girl, 9, with rare aggressive cancer

That is the motto of ‘inspirational’ nine-year-old Stubbington girl Sophie Fairall who has a rare form of aggressive soft tissue cancer that only three children in the whole of Europe are thought to have.

But despite being dealt the cruel blow of being diagnosed with the unusual form of Sarcoma in September before being plunged into intensive treatment, Sophie has stunned everyone with her incredible ‘positivity’ as she fights the disease.

‘Sophie has given people real inspiration, she inspires others to be positive,’ her mum Charlotte Fairall said.

‘She has such a positive mindset and that is really helping everyone. She is positive she will get into remission and is always focusing on doing different things. She amazes people with what she is doing.’

Despite her illness, one of Sophie’s projects is fundraising for Southampton Hospital, where she has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, by painting ceramic items and selling them. So far she has raised over £2,500.

Her willingness to help others despite her struggles has seen the tight-knit village community want to pull out all the stops for Sophie.

Andy Vaughan, whose son is friends with Sophie, decided to do his bit by cycling a 20-mile route from Stubbington to Gosport. For 24 hours non-stop.

The 37-year-old, who set off on Saturday morning with cycling partners Dan Cross, Luke Bullous and Liam Blagg, has raised nearly £5,000 for Sophie through the cycle challenge and from a virtual raffle last month.

Andy, who has been undergoing training with his team including riding their bikes from 10pm to 4am, said: ‘Sophie has got real spirit and does a lot for charity. The village has come together to help her. It just brings it home that this sort of thing can happen to anyone.

‘We just want to do our bit, with the money helping with things like travelling and loss of income because Charlotte cannot work now.’

After completing the challenge Andy added: ‘We did around 210 miles and the weather was down to almost freezing overnight with rain and even a hailstorm. We had great support from the village with one lady even driving to Lee-on-the-Solent at midnight to cheer us on.

‘It was tough but however difficult it was, nothing compared to what Sophie is going through.’

Charlotte, who runs blogs Sophie’s Journey on Facebook and Sofie’s Sarcoma Journey on Instagram, said she was overwhelmed with the support.

‘The support from the community and from all over the world from strangers – as far away as Australia and New Zealand – has been beyond belief,’ she said.

‘What Andy has done is unbelievable with the raffle and now the cycle challenge. It makes us feel like we are not on our own.’

The 40-year-old mum revealed Sophie’s diagnosis and treatment – with her due to go to University College Hospital in London for six weeks just four days before Christmas – has had far reaching implications for the family.

‘I started a new job and had to leave after two days after finding out about Sophie. Having no money coming in when you still have to pay bills is scary,’ she said.

‘We can’t plan for anything and just have to live day to day. I’ll be going to London for six weeks which means leaving my husband and our other two children for that period, so it has a big impact on them.’

Charlotte revealed that Sophie is ‘responding well to treatment’ and is ‘defying the odds’ but admitted Sophie will always have consequences from the cancer if she makes it into remission.

‘We know there will be long lasting damage and we will never have the same Sophie as before,’ she said.

‘The radiotherapy does damage to the whole body. You don’t hear about the long lasting effects on children in remission. It is even harsher for them as they are still growing.

‘It is my mission to find a better cure for children’s cancer. Most money raised for cancer goes towards adults but a lot of children have cancer too – the ward at Southampton is always full – so more investment is needed for them.’

Donate to Sophie at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sophiefsjourney

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