Fundraiser Launched For Inspirational Dublin Teen Who Is ‘Still Smiling’ After Losing All Four Limbs

On the 12th of December last year, the parents of the Blanchardstown native brought their daughter to a doctor who was experiencing a fever. It must be every parent's nightmare to watch the situation deteriorate rapidly.

Sophie quickly began to have difficulties breathing and was rushed to Temple Street Children's Hospital in an ambulance with suspected pneumonia, before being admitted to ICU and placed on a ventilator.

It transpired that Sophie had gone into septic shock as a result of Strep A and her organs were beginning to fail. Her situation was so dire she was transferred to Crumlin Children’s Hospital to get the care she needed.

With her parent’s next to her the entire time, Sophie spent the next two weeks fighting for her life as her mum Laura Hughes and dad Keith Lanigan were told to prepare for the worst. Sophie battled through and was taken off the ventilator on Christmas Day but received the devastating news that the damage to her hands and feet where irreversible and amputation was unavoidable.

The battle was not over there, however, and since then Sophie has suffered dialysis and infections but through ups and downs has pulled through after spending weeks and weeks in the hospital.

The GoFundMe page writes that “Sophie is the most amazing, strong, determined girl and she battled through again. She is our hero, and we are all so unbelievably proud.

Sophie and her family face a difficult path ahead in adapting to this new way of life. They will need to make changes to their home to meet Sophies need, as well as prosthetics and other adaptive equipment. The cost of all this can be daunting.”

The response from the public so far has been nothing short of fantastic. Sophie’s bravery and courage have captured the hearts and minds of so many in Ireland and abroad.

The page also says “We started this fundraiser because not only would we like to help our hero Sophie, but we would like to help her incredibly strong, brave parents and brother through an extremely difficult time too.”