Tracks of years with sweet girl
Girl‘s tissues help scientists to make a cancer breakthrough
Sophie, centre, with mum Kirsty, dad Alex, brother Connor and big sister Evie
Me and my new wife Lynne
Dr Green and Sophie poke out tongues
WHO’D a’thowt it? Certainly not me.
I only went to the Wakefield Railfans Club in 1959 to meet fellow puffer-nutters.
There was no question of girls. They wouldn’t like engine sheds, and they wouldn’t know the difference between a 4-6-2 Pacific and the ocean. Sissies. But it’s funny how life catches you out. There was Martyn, a great fan of the Great Western, and, er, there was his sister Lynne. Next minute, I’m attending the Methodist Youth Club where the Rev Grubb allows some teenage social distancing after the church service.
And she’s there, too. In that figurehugging frock her mother Winnie made.
Pretty soon after, I went home to Railway Terrace and threw all my train
BRAVE little Sophie Taylor once stuck her tongue out at the bone cancer that, tragically, ended up claiming her life.
Now 16 months after her death at the age of five she has struck back at the disease.
Sophie’s donated tissues and DNA have helped scientists achieve a breakthrough in the treatment of childhood osteosarcoma.
They are now developing drugs to delay its spread by targeting a specific protein.
Dr Darrell Green, who is leading the research, said yesterday that Sophie’s blood samples were a “vital contribution” towards locating the cancer-spreading cells.
He explained: “Those cells gave us the material to identify genetic drivers that cause spread of primary bone cancer.”
Dr Green, of the
University of East
Anglia, said the death of his best friend Ben Morley from the cancer as a teenager “inspired me to do something about it”.
New technology enabled them to identify a one-in-abillion cell driving cancer growth. With the University of Manchester they adapted osteosarcoma cells, causing the primary tumour to grow slower and blocking spread to the lungs.
Sophie, of Norwich, had a leg amputated in a bid to halt the cancer. However, it could not be stopped and she died in January 2019.
Sophie’s dad Alex Taylor said: “We did not hesitate in offering Sophie’s tumour, DNA and RNA. We are so proud of how she fought and even more so that she has contributed to research which will be lifesaving.”
Hundreds joined the #takeasophie campaign online launched by Alex. He wanted people to post selfies showing them “sticking their tongues out at cancer” .
Model Katie Piper, ex-Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew and BBC Countryfile’s Adam Henson supported the campaign. books in the bin. My mother suspected that “something had happened”.
Too damn right, and the outcome was an 8lb baby girl, then a runaway wedding and a life together. And today, a
ALEX TAYLOR SOPHIE’S FATHER celebration of Lynne’s 75th birthday. Where did our 20s go? Darlington, Brighton, London. Where did our 40s go? Miners’ strike, Singapore, Wapping dispute. And 60s? Home to Yorkshire.
The big event for Lynne today is her appointment with hairdresser Lindsay, the first for nearly four months. She’s promised herself highlights.
They can’t be better than the ones she’s been getting at Chez Paul, in our garden with a spray distanced at five inches.
That’s the kind of thing that’s been keeping couples together during this nightmare. Making the best of things, as you learn to do during a lifetime together.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Seventeen, on your 75th!
We are so proud of how Sophie fought and aided the research