Real Stories
How a music therapist ‘saved’ six-year-old Sophie’s life
“Her little body had just had as much as it could handle, and we nearly lost her. I truly believe it was the music therapist who saved her life that day.”
Christine’s daughter, Sophie, was six years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
Although ear infections are common, when Sophie couldn’t shake hers off, her parents became worried.
“The ear infections were getting worse every time and she was taking longer to bounce back,” recalls Christine.
Sophie’s doctor sent her for blood tests. Just four hours later, she called and told Christine to drop what she was doing and take Sophie to the hospital immediately.
When they arrived at the emergency department, Sophie was rushed off for more tests.
Christine realised in that moment that her little girl’s life was in danger when two doctors came to see her and her husband Paul. They were childhood cancer specialists.
“When I saw their badges, I passed out. It was such a shock,” she says.
Sophie’s organs had started shutting down. From that moment, the hospital became their second home for many months.
Sophie began chemotherapy straight away with Christine by her side. “I never thought it could happen to someone I love, especially not my bright, happy, placid little girl.”
A night stands out in Christine’s memory as she nearly lost Sophie.
“She had a toxic reaction to the build-up of chemotherapy in her body. Her little body had just had as much as it could handle, and we nearly lost her. It was terrifying. One night Sophie’s heart rate was so high, that no matter what doctors tried, they couldn’t bring it down.
They rushed in the Redkite Music Therapist, who played to her for hours, and you could just see how her heart rate started going down. I truly believe it was the music therapist who saved her life that day.”
Kids Cancer Conversations hosted by Georgie Gardner is a podcast made in collaboration with RedKite, the podcast seeks to explore the hidden side of Childhood Cancer, the non-medical part that often gets missed on the cancer journey.
Episode five of Kids Cancer Conversations with Georgie Gardner is available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Original article written for 9Honey.
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