Brave Sophie farewelled

Andrew Mathieson
A CORIO girl’s brave lifelong fight against a series of cancers came to a peaceful end this week.
Tributes from mourners flowed for Sophie Cooper who defied the odds and baffled doctors who didn’t expect her to live more than a few weeks.
The feisty five-year-old constantly battled rare and aggressive cancers, the first at just three weeks old and a tumour found before she was born
Unable to walk, she was forced to live on dilated kidneys.
Sophie suffered a stroke that paralysed her left side and also had a shunt applied to drain fluid from her brain.
Sophie, who was admitted to hospital close to 100 times, was moved again from her Corio home to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital last week for the last time.
Hundreds attended a memorial service on Wednesday at Grovedale’s Lyndon Grove to remember a little girl renowned for her cheeky wit.
Condolence messages littered her mum Kristy’s Facebook page.
Kristy took the opportunity to thank her “wonderful” friends.
“I know that you all loved Sophie,” she said, “we love and miss her more than words could ever say.”
The family appealed for donations to Neurofibromatosis Association of Australia in lieu of flowers for Sophie’s funeral.