This past Saturday Oct. 24th, after a full day of enjoying her family and friends Sophie left us and joined her heavenly Father. We know she was greeted with a joyous welcome by family and friends that were there waiting. As most of you know some of Sophie's story we will retell it now in fewer words than it truly deserves. Born in 1996 she enjoyed a healthy and happy life in North Seattle where she grew to be a very funny, provacative, humored person, outgoing physically and energetic beyond belief. She had the idealic American childhood that all could hope for. At the age of 9, she was suddenly stricken with what we all considered a very normal virus like all kids get. It took a sudden turn for Sophie when this small illness attacked her circulatory system and her heart. Suddenly her family was faced with the incredibly unexpected truth, Sophie would soon need a full heart transplant. She was placed on a donor list and the waiting began. Some months later the phone call came and a matching donor was found. "Teresa" from outside of Washington was another youth that had parents that had the foresight to allow such a donation. On January 14th 2006, the day before her 10th birthday, Sophie received her transplant at Seattle Children's Hospital. Dr. Robert Boucek and his complete team did a brilliant job of making the surgery a success and the work of recovery began. Over the next ten years Sophie had very lengthy periods of great health and normalcy like any teen. Dances, dates, football games filled the weekends. Yet more than all these things the real fulfillment for Sophie came from her participation and love of theater, singing and perfomance arts. Talented and full of promise, Sophie gained an amazing array of friends and admirers both from her peer group and the adults that witnessed her miraculous sense of joy in the absolute face of adversity. Behind the scenes her life was a constant regime of pills and prescriptions to maintain the delicate balance of body chemistry that only transplant patients and their families see. Sophie constantly elevated her attitude beyond these circumstances to inspire other children that were facing similar experiences through her visits and commitment to Seattle Children's Hospital. She devoted great energy and love towards the folks that saved her life and committed to save the lives of other children. Sophie currently was a speaker in the hospital's fund raising network and a powerful advocate for children's health. During the spring of 2015, Sophie lost her paternal grandmother who lived with her. She loved her "Mo" dearly and her family was faced with the hardship of the healthcare expenses and the final expenses associated with this hardship. This same spring, Sophie was a freshman attending college at Western Washington University when she had a sudden setback, an episode that appeared to be a possible rejection of her transplanted heart. She spent in excess of 100 days in the hospital this spring where she mapped out her plans to create a sophisticated TED talk. The incident reinforced her commitment to the goal of fund raising for stem-cell research to avert the potential other children from living with the constant aggravation that these types of illnesses and transplantation can cause. Sophie was preparing to devote her life to the goal of helping others through the leadership of altruism. Her computer is packed with files of reference materials, speech content, educational materials and plans to live her mission. We all thought and felt Sophie was on target for a brilliant future. God had other plans for her and for us. As you can imagine, or more accurately perhaps cannot her family is emotionally devasted and profoundly financially in a truly humbling position. Despite incredible insurance there have been a steady stream of un-covered medical bills over the decade that seem to extend beyond the horizon. They are managing the best they can. This fund was set up specifically to address the final expenses that are imposed for memorial and the specific wishes around that which not surprisingly Sophie had planned for and written down. Something no one would expect a 19 year-old to have done. We ask that you participate and make a decision to donate to this fund now from the generous place in your heart. There are things that no family hopes to go through in this life and Sophie has been through all of this for over a decade. There is no family more deserving of your conscious act of giving. There is no moment as powerful as the one in front of you now. As their friends we have something simple to do. Help.
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