Waxing launches new appeal for little Sophie

The fundraising event at Nanny Ilotts Kitchen, in Brighton Road, Worthing, successfully got the Sophie’s Bedroom Appeal off the ground.

Sophie Nugent, ten, has cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy. Herald and Gazette readers previously supported an appeal to pay for her Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) operation.

Now, money is needed to adapt the ground floor of the family house to make it a fully wheelchair accessible.

Trish Murrell, fundraising organiser, said: “We had 11 hairy volunteers who were sponsored to have either their legs, chest or back waxed and one man had his head shaved by Worthing beautician Emily Duke.

“This was the first fundraising event for the Sophie’s Bedroom Appeal 2016. There will be many events as the family needs to raise £20,000 to adapt their house for Sophie to give her back her independence and give her and her family a better quality of life for now and the future with her ever-changing needs.”

Parents Debbie and Peter Nugent started a £60,000 for Sophie’s SDR when she was four and they were living in Angmering.

Neurosurgeon Dr Tae Sung Park performed the operation at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri in August 2010 and Sophie was his 2,000th patient.

Trish said: “The outcome was amazing and with a lot of hard work, she did achieve her goals - she could dance.”

But when she was seven, her epilepsy ‘came back with a vengeance’ and she began having severe seizures on a daily basis.

“Sadly, Sophie has lost all the independence that the SDR gave her,” said Trish. “She can no longer walk unaided or without supervision due to massive fatigue, lack of balance and pain.

“Every time Sophie wishes to come down the stairs she has to slide down on her bottom and has to be carried or supervised to get up them.”

The family was placed in a house with a stairlift in Goring but then had to move again to Horsham, to a more adaptable house near Sophie’s special school in Lingfield.

Sophie was recently assessed by an SDR specialist at the Bristol Children’s Hospital and the family was told she would need a big operation on three parts of both feet, as they are collapsing.

Trish said: “This will leave Sophie off of her feet for several months, when she will not be able to weight bare at all and will have lots of hospital appointments in between.

“This is why the Sophie’s Bedroom Appeal is being launched.”

Find the Sophie’s Bedroom Appeal 2016 on Facebook for more information.

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