‘She’s got no idea how courageous she truly is’
Having been badly burnt in her cot at just six months old, brave eight-year-old elizabeth soffe simply wants to be like other little girls – and is determined to rise to every challenge that life throws her way
She’s endured more than 80 operations in her short life and faces physio four times a day, after suffering life-changing burns as a baby. Yet eight-year-old Elizabeth Soffe refuses to feel sorry for herself, despite the stares and taunts of strangers.
The brave schoolgirl has even raised £215,000 to ensure other children with burns receive the best care available. Her motto is, “It doesn’t matter what you look like, it just matters that you are kind.”
“She’s got absolutely no idea how courageous she truly is,” says her mum Sinead, 43.
“There’s definitely something special about Elizabeth. People are often shocked when they first see her, but there’s an aura about her that wins people over as soon as she starts speaking. Sometimes I’m asked 10 times a day what happened to her, which can be exhausting.
“These days I often say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with her’ because there isn’t. She’s a lovely, enthusiastic, kind little girl who just happens to look different to everyone else.”
In May 2014, the Soffe family were living in Qatar when Elizabeth was put down for a nap in her bedroom.
But a faulty airconditioning unit caught fire and when Sinead heard her six-month-old’s cries, she ran in to find the cot in flames and her baby on fire.
“It was horrendous and for weeks we didn’t think she’d survive,” says
Sinead. “She suffered 60% third degree burns on her body and lost most of her fingers, an ear, most of her nose and her hair.” Hospitals in Qatar were not equipped to deal with such severe injuries, so the Emir of Qatar let the family take her to the UK in his air ambulance, where she was admitted to the specialist burns unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
For six months, she underwent gruelling skin grafts every other day, followed by weekly reconstruction and plastic surgeries, with Sinead and her husband Liam, 44, at her bedside. The family, including siblings Danny, Amelia and William, now 14, 13, and 10, relocated to Birmingham to be near the hospital, as she would need treatment for the rest of her life.
“Her scars restrict her movement on her neck, elbows, wrists and other joints and any non-burned skin has been used to provide skin grafts, which creates more scars,” says Sinead. “At the moment she’s having two surgeries a year. In between she has physio and therapy exercises four times a day. “She never complains. Because she was so tiny when she got burnt, she’s got a lot of growing to do, so she’s still got more surgeries to come.”
The burns have left Elizabeth’s face and body with extensive damage and the whole family find it upsetting when she’s on the receiving end of negative comments.
Thoughtless cruelty
“People don’t realise the impact of their words and adults are often the worst,” says Sinead. “Once a woman said to her child, ‘Look at that ugly baby’ and there have been people who tried to get her removed from their child’s swimming pool and those who don’t intervene when their child won’t hold her hand.
“Some parents try to rush their children away to avoid having a conversation with their child. When she was younger it was
‘We didn’t think she’d survive. Elizabeth suffered 60% third degree burns. She never complains’
easier to protect her, but now she’s older she hears these things herself.
“This summer she was at a holiday camp and some girls her age followed her to the toilets and said she shouldn’t be there because they weren’t for aliens.
“I was upset for her but she was determined to go back. She does get very hurt sometimes but she never gets angry and is always kind.
“I understand people staring but it’s what you do with that staring that I’d like to see change. Maybe parents could get their children to see beyond her face and notice that she’s a child like them or that she’s good at swimming or running.”
Following surgery last year, Elizabeth decided to raise money so Birmingham Children’s hospital could buy a £130,000 laser machine that breaks up scar tissue.
“Elizabeth ran a mile a day for 26 days, some days running 73 times round the garden,” says Sinead. “We were hoping to raise £1,000 but she ended up raising more than £215,000 and every penny went to charities that had helped her on her journey.
“She’s also an ambassador for the Scarfree Foundation and in October she’s doing a half-a-million steps challenge to raise money for Virtual reality headsets, which help reduce patients’ anxiety during medical procedures.”
hope for the future
With all she’s achieved, Elizabeth was a natural choice for this year’s Daily Mirror Pride Of Britain Child Of Courage.
She was surprised with the news by Formula 1 driver daniel ricciardo during a special visit to the Mclaren F1 team’s hq with her mum.
“Elizabeth loves Formula 1 and she was completely overwhelmed to meet her hero daniel,” says Sinead. “Eight years ago we were sitting by her hospital bed thinking she was going to die and now she’s receiving this incredible award. She’s fought very hard for a place on this Earth.”
Elizabeth is typically modest about receiving the honour. She says, “I’m excited because I have never won anything as big as this and I’m still in shock. I can’t wait to wear my fancy dress to the ceremony and meet famous people.”
although Elizabeth will face many more challenges as she gets older, Sinead is full of hope for her daughter’s future.
“She has surprised us all with all the things she’s been determined to do,” she says. “She’s doing gymnastics and circus skills as well as swimming and singing.
“She loves English, science and PE at school and even though it’s very tiring for her, she prefers to use a normal pencil rather than a special one or a laptop. The other day it took her 10 minutes to put her watch on but she wouldn’t let anyone help her. She’s very determined. I hope she has the opportunity to do whatever she wants, whether that’s being a Formula 1 driver or a school teacher.
“Of course I wish I could change what happened to Elizabeth, but at the same time I wouldn’t want to make her any different. She’s amazing just the way she is.”
Watch the Daily Mirror Pride Of Britain Awards with TSB, on Thursday at 8pm on ITV