Nine year old Sophie suffers from Rett Syndrome – an untreatable, incurable degenerative condition that affects just 1 in every 10,000 girls.

When we met Sophie in November 2011 she had many physical symptoms including an inability to sleep, ongoing pain, ongoing itching, seizures, loss of limb control, and an inability to eat normally requiring her to be fed via a tube in her tummy.  She couldn’t talk but could communicate her likes and dislikes with sounds.

Sophie was dependent on 24 hour care, provided by her devoted parents.

Sophie’s pain could often be alleviated by immersing her body in warm water and her pain management team at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane had recommended that the family modify their bathroom to incorporate a modified bath and the appropriate hoists to safely lift Sophie in and out and to support her whilst she is in it.

Sophie’s family had done an amazing job so far in their efforts to raise the $12,820.50 needed for the bathroom modifications. They raised:

• $6,993 from St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland’s Home Maintenance & Modification Program
• $1,900 with the help of the Helensvale Scouts who walked from Palm Beach to Surfers’ Paradise
• $1,300 with the help of Lollipop’s Playland at Springwood who ran a disco
• $500 from their local chaplain service

That only left $2,127.50 and we were only too pleased to launch this appeal and the funds were raised in just a couple of weeks.