Sophie's Support Squad

Sophie Quirke is a wonderfully sassy, bubbly and kind little girl who was diagnosed with B Cell, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia on January 6th 2023 aged just 7.

Sophie got through 2 years 3 months of tough chemotherapy- a combination of daily oral chemo, monthly IV and tri-monthly trips to theatre for spinal chemo, lumbar punctures and bone marrow biopsies.

She has had a Hickman line in her chest all this time through which the chemotherapy is administered & weekly bloods tested. This meant no sport or her beloved swimming. Even having a shower is an ordeal.

Every temperature required a trip to hospital for IV antibiotics and 5-10 night stays. However, Sophie, a 4th class student in St Michael’s N.S., Mullinahone, faced all these challenges with such bravery. This despite, at times, feeling overwhelmed with sadness from losing her hair & watching her friends enjoy every day life without all her worries.

Sophie, alongside her parents Roger & Martina (Griffin) Quirke and older brother Dylan, met these tribulations head-on and focused on reaching the finish line with her fully well and ready to lead a long, healthy life.

After over 2 years of treatment, and an end date of March 7th 2025 within reach, the family were to receive the cruelest blow of all, when on February 26th this year during a routine lumbar puncture, cancer cells were found to be present in Sophie’s Cerebral Spinal Fluid and Bone Marrow.

With just one week of treatment left to ring the bell, the family’s world was once again torn apart.

A relapse, while still on active treatment, puts Sophie in a very high risk category. Her best chance is to receive a Bone Marrow Transplant.

Unfortunately, this procedure is no longer available in Ireland. Sophie will need to be taken overseas for this life saving transplant which puts additional financial & emotional stress on the family.

The process takes 6-18 weeks in isolation in hospital following a minimum period of 3 months aggressive chemotherapy & radiation to put little Sophie back in remission and shut down her entire immune system ready for transplant.

Sophie’s older brother Dylan has been tested as a donor and a search of the unrelated global register has been activated in the event that he is not a match.

As they focus on caring for their daughter, we want to ease the only one of Martina & Roger’s burdens that we can - by helping to cover travel expenses, lost income, and any additional costs that arise as they navigate this new reality.

Martina has been on carer’s leave from her job as a secondary school teacher in Callan for the past 2 years of Sophie’s treatment. She was ready to go back to work and back on payroll for the coming academic year. This is now on hold again for at least another year.

The additional stress of another year (best case scenario) without two full wages on which all their outgoings are based is something that we CAN assist with...but we need your help.

Sophie is tough, strong, independent and above all, a fighter. She will come out of this on the right side and will beat this illness again.

She has already been through more than any 10 year old should.

Thank you for your support

Please see updates for upcoming fundraisers in the local community.