Sophie White: Young mum from Rotherham battling brain tumour needs £200K for treatment
A young mum who was given just 18 months to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour has been forced to raise £200,000 for private treatment abroad.
Sophie White, aged 23, from Rotherham, was told she had a Grade 4 Glioblastoma - which is one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer - and had just under two years to live.
She has beaten that prognosis but Sophie, who is mum to two-year-old son Remy, was told earlier this month that the treatment that is meant to prolong her life isn’t working and that the tumour has spread to the other side of her brain.
She is now hoping to have private immunotherapy treatment in Germany in March - where her own body's immune system will fight the cancer - but she will have to raise around £200,000 to have this.
But despite this, the mum-of-one says she is trying to be as positive as possible and keep going for her son Remy.
Sophie said: "I've always had quite a positive mindset - I just don't let anything bother me.
"I tell myself that it's not happening to me, so I try and not believe it.
"You wouldn't notice that I'm poorly unless I tell you.
"It's not nice for anyone in this situation but my little boy Remy helps.
"I do give up sometimes and think 'what is the point?' but I very rarely feel like that."
Sophie, a former care coordinator for a healthcare company, was a fit and healthy 21-year-old when she first had a seizure.
She suffered from another three seizures while in hospital and then doctors told her that she had a cancerous brain tumour and that she would need a four-hour-long surgery to remove 95 per cent of it as soon as possible.
Sophie was then given the heartbreaking news a couple of weeks later that she had Grade 4 Glioblastoma and had radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
She then had another surgery just over a year later to remove some of the tumour's regrowth and also had a shunt, a tube that allows fluid to drain from one part of the body to another, fitted.
Sophie said that when she was diagnosed, she was left "heartbroken" and "didn't know what to do with herself."
She said: "It was quite heartbreaking. I didn't know what to do with myself.
"After a few days, I got my head around it and thought 'f**k it' because it is what it is.
"I need to make the best memories with Remy."
Sophie is now focusing on making memories with Remy - and the pair have recently been on holidays to Cape Verde and Disneyland Paris.
She said: "I love to go on holiday, I love the sun and I love to feel normal.
"When I first got diagnosed, I said I wanted people to treat me like a normal person.
"Regardless of everything, I am still me.
"I feel more sorry for Remy because he's now getting bigger and he's so clever - it's so sad."
Sophie's friends and family members have rallied around her and hope to raise as much money as possible - which she says has been "really nice but overwhelming" at the same time.
She said: "We are just really appreciative with what everyone has done for us.
"I can't believe how well people have stood up and helped me raise the money.
"It's really nice to see but it's also a bit overwhelming at the same time."
You can donate to Sophie's Go Fund Me page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/aqnke6-saving-sophie
To follow her journey, visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094273137011