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‘Help us transform Sofia’s life forever’
Rosetta with her autistic daughter Sofia Liset, who is appealing for help to get her stem cell treatment in Germany. (METP-22-12-10DL201) Picture: David Lowndes/Peterborough ET
A Peterborough mum has made a heartfelt plea for help to fund an operation that could change her daughter’s life.
Sofia Liset needs to travel to Germany to have life-changing, stem cell treatment after suffering from severe autism since she was a baby.
The nine-year-old of Oundle Road, Woodston, Peterborough, is still unable to speak and struggles to interact with other children her age but her parents hope that the operation could give her a new lease of life.
She lives with mum Rosetta, dad Diego (52), sister Daniella (19) and brothers Francesco (15) and Giovanni (12), who are all desperate to try and improve her quality of life.
But her family cannot afford the £9,000 needed to pay for the treatment as well as the added cost of their week-long stay in Germany following the operation.
Rosetta (46) has come forward to make an emotional cry for help for her daughter.
She said: “At the moment Sofia cannot live a normal life. She gets very frustrated very quickly because she can’t speak.
“She also cannot engage in normal playing like other children can. She has plenty of toys, but she just won’t play with them, and she finds it very difficult to play with anyone.
“She will occasionally play a board game but we really have to persuade her. She likes to swirl ribbons, but will not engage with toys like other children.
“She also has quite bad bowel problems and distorted hearing and binocular vision.
“We just want the best for our daughter, and we think the operation will be able to help her.
“We have been told that the operation could help her live a normal life.
“We have tried all sorts of treatments in the last few years, from oxygen therapy to biomedical treatments, but none have really worked.
“This really is the last chance we have to make a difference to our daughter’s life.”
The Phoenix School pupil also suffers from various allergies, to both food and chemicals, and her mother said they have to be careful about what she eats and what items are brought into the house.
While there is no cure for autism the treatment aims to improve Sofia’s quality of life by improving her ability to communicate and see.
It involves a lumbar puncture where stem cells are injected into her spinal fluid and Sofia’s mum said she could need up to three operations.
She said: “We have been told that with some people the treatment works quite quickly and we could even see some real improvement in the first couple of months, but with others it might take a bit longer.
“The first operation would mean that Sofia would have to travel to Cologne in Germany for at least five days.
“The operation itself costs £9,000 and we would need to go out to Germany to stay with her, so it is very expensive.
“We just cannot afford it at the moment. We are full-time carers for Sofia and people have been very helpful to us but we really need more help.”
For more information or to donate to Sofia’s appeal visit www.sofialiset.co.uk
Stem cell treatment
THE operation at the XCell Hospital in Cologne would see surgeons give Sofia a general anaesthetic, before collecting bone marrow from Sofia’s hip bone.
The bone marrow is then processed to collect the crucial stem cells. Doctors will then insert a needle into Sofia’s spine and remove a small amount of spinal fluid.
A portion of that is mixed with a stem cell solution and the solution is injected back into the patient’s spinal fluid, which then transports the stem cells to the brain.
Reports suggest that more than 70 per cent of patients see improvements in their condition after surgery.
The hospital specialises in stem cell work and also treats people suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, cerebral palsy, diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease.
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