Eight-year-old girl raises money for hospital which diagnosed her type 1 diabetes

An eight-year-old girl who initially struggled with her type 1 diabetes diagnosis is raising money for the Sheffield hospital where she was treated.
Sophielee Barker-Bown was told she had developed type 1 diabetes last September, and initially struggled to process what the diagnosis meant for her day-to-day life.
Now, as part of Soph’s 5k Challenge, the youngster is striving to raise £5,000 for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Diabetes Team.
Although Sophielee is now focused on her efforts, Karen said the diagnosis was initially a “tough blow” for her daughter.
Karen told the Sheffield Star newspaper: “She couldn’t understand why this was happening to her. It broke my heart when she asked if she’d caused it by eating too many sweets, and when I couldn’t tell her why it would never go away.”
But after much love and support from her family, friends and the hospital team, Sophielee has now come to terms with her condition and is raising money doing all sorts of activities from dog-walking to car washing.
She has even secured a celebrity to help her fundraise, recruiting the famous chef Gino D’Acampo for her cause. Karen explained that Sophielee had written a cookbook to help raise funds for the hospital that treated her and went about asking for Gino’s input.
Karen said: “Sophielee knew Gino’s middle name was Sheffield and so, even though, he’s not from here, she thought that qualified him to get involved.
“I thought ‘Well, you don’t ask, you don’t get,’ so I called his manager and told her the story, and he replied with a recipe for the book.”
You can donate to Sophielee’s cause here.
Picture: BYB Photography