SOPHIA’S LONDON DATE
ED AND ELLEN ON OVERSEAS WISH LIST
SOPHIA Gall, pictured, is not afraid of dying, she is scared of missing out on life.
The Geelong West 15-yearold, whose final wish is a private concert with Ed Sheeran, wants her last moments to be happy ones and social media is determined to make that happen.
Sophia has a rare form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma, and she has made the heartbreaking decision to end treatment.
“I’m scared about what I’m leaving behind, more so than what is going to happen to me,” she said.
Despite two years of chemotherapy, proton radiation in the US and surgery to remove part of her lung, the large tumour on Sophia’s pelvis is growing.
Morphine controls the pain, but her treatment options have been exhausted.
When asked about the prognosis, she cannot bring herself to say the words and asks her mum to explain it instead.
“The prognosis is, um, you won’t be alive,” Linda Gall says quietly. “It’s death.”
Sophia is hoping to achieve two last wishes while overseas on the family trip of a lifetime.
The first is to meet Ed Sheeran, whose album she listened to every day on the way to hospital during radiation treatment, and the second is to go on the Ellen DeGeneres show.
The hashtag #sophiatomeetedsheeran has blown up on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as thousands of strangers try to convince the star to perform a small, private concert for her as per her third wish.
“His music has helped me through this a lot,” Sophia said.
“I met him in 2015 when I had a tube in and bald head, and he was so nice and didn’t ask about it or anything . . . He’s performing in London at the O2 Arena and I was like, ‘OMG’, if I could meet him again that would be so cool.
“A dream of mine ever since I was first diagnosed is to go on the Ellen show . . . in the hospital we would always watch it on Channel 9.”
The inspiring teen became a social media sensation through documenting her cancer journey in YouTube videos from her diagnosis in 2015, going into remission and to her devastating scan results last month.
While Ms Gall has concerns about her daughter sharing the “nightmare” they live through on social media, she said it was not her life to control and the outpouring of support had been helpful for Sophia.
She said they have not asked for a timeline, instead wanting Sophia to enjoy the next month abroad on her dream, four-week, family trip to Paris, New York, London, Los Angeles, Scotland and Singapore.
“There is potential that she may be able to have a little bit more radiation to the pelvis but that’s not going to be a cure, that’s just going to help with the pain as everything progresses, but Sophia’s chosen to not wait for that,” Ms Gall said.
“She’s chosen to go and have a trip, with the blessing of the medical team, because she has missed out on a lot in the last two years. If we thought for one minute that we had a fighting chance, we wouldn’t be taking her on a trip.”
Sophia can picture herself eating cake and sipping Starbucks in Central Park after she flies out this weekend with her mum, dad Mark and brother Lachlan.
“Everyone always asks me how I stay positive,” Sophia said. “But I don’t really know, it was never really like a choice. I always say it’s OK to have your days when you’re upset, but I just feel like life’s so much better, regardless of what you’re going through, if you are just happy and smile and be positive.
“When I got my results they showed that there wasn’t really much else that could be done.
“That really upset me, but I’ve always had a travel bug and wanted to just go on a big world trip and see as much as I can.”