It’s now eight years since Sophie donated part of her liver to her nephew, Oscar. Here is her story.
I remember the devastation we felt as a family when we learned that my brother’s beautiful newborn baby had the rare liver disease, biliary atresia. The news that his only hope was a liver transplant was even worse. But when we realised that he could be saved by a family member donating a part of their own liver, that offered us a real glimmer of hope. And I knew straight away that it should be me.
Even though I was living in Australia at the time, I was the obvious choice. I was only 25, I was slim, fit and healthy. And although I knew that, as with all surgery, there were risks, it didn’t scare me at all. When you’re young you feel you’re invincible and I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t take the chance to save Oscar.
So, I flew back, went through all the medical checks and was delighted to be told I’d be a perfect match. Our operations took place in Leeds in May 2016 when Oscar was just seven months old.
Here is a picture of Sophie and Oscar just before his transplant:
Recovery from the surgery has gone well although it was a long road. One thing I noticed following the operation was that, in addition to having a scar, I gained weight. I shall never know whether this would have happened anyway as I got older, but having always been a size six, I admit I struggled with this initially.
Now, eight years on, I am healthy, completely happy with who I am and in fact, body positivity is something I feel very strongly about. I now work full time as a curve model, body confidence creator and public speaker and even run a body confidence course Soph With Love. Who knows if I would have had the drive to do this had I not been through this experience? Maybe some things are meant to be.
The best thing of all, however, is seeing Oscar thrive. He is the most hilarious child – a huge character who really enjoys life – especially football and computer games! We’ve always been close, I’m so proud to be his aunty and I’m thrilled we are liver buddies!
Oscar and sister Millie are pictured below at one of their sleepovers at Aunty Sophie’s.
