Sadie Rose

Sadie Rose’s story  

Sadie Rose was born on 8th August 2009 weighing a very healthy 8lbs 6oz. But in October 2010, after being unwell for a month, parents Katie and Darren were told that their 14-month-old baby had stage 4 neuroblastoma. 

Sadie started frontline treatment immediately, including 70 days of chemotherapy in November 2010. She then had major surgery in February 2011 to remove a large tumour, which was located above her left kidney and wrapped around the main artery in the body, her aorta. Sadie bounced back after this life-threatening operation and was home after just over a week in hospital.

In March 2011 Sadie had an intensive course of high-dose chemotherapy to prepare her body for her stem cell transplant. Unfortunately, she developed a very serious and potentially life-threatening liver disease called veno-occlusive disease (VOD) as a side effect from the high-dose chemotherapy. 

Sadie had three weeks of radiotherapy in June and July, followed by immunotherapy treatment. After just two weeks she had a seizure, and an emergency CT showed that there was a tumour on the right side of her brain. The next day a four-hour operation to remove the tumour took place, and tissue samples were sent to the lab for tests. These showed that the tumour was cancerous, and that the neuroblastoma had returned. 

Sadie had more procedures and scans to determine the plan for further treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in America. 

The family travelled to America in early January 2012 and Sadie Rose began specialised treatment. However, on the 18th of January, the family’s lives were turned upside down again, when a new scan showed that Sadie Rose had relapsed again with tumours in her liver and chest. 

Sadie was treated for this relapse in New York as a matter of urgency and she received chemotherapy to try and arrest the disease. The family came back to the UK where Sadie continued to have treatment in the hope that she would be able to join a new trial for relapsed neuroblastoma. 

However, on the 15th of June 2012, following further checks, Katie and Darren received the devastating news that there were no curative treatment options available.  

Sadie passed away on the 25th of June 2012. 

_{Donations made in loving memory of children} 

_{Funds raised in loving memory of Sadie Rose will be used to support other children like Sadie Rose and their families through Solving Kids' Cancer UK's activities. Any funds raised through a previous fundraising campaign for access to treatment which were not spent on the child's treatment and pastoral needs are used to support other children and families through Solving Kids' Cancer UK's activities.}