Sophies Gift

On 9th October 2007 Sophie went for a drive with her friend who had passed his driving test the previous day. Shortly before 11 a.m. the car collided with an 18 tonne lorry travelling at 32 M.P.H. which hit Sophie’s side of the car. The side of Sophie’s head took the brunt of the impact.

Over 3,000 people are injured in a similar way to Sophie each year in the UK.

It took an hour to remove Sophie from the wreckage and the emergency crew thought they had lost her on the way to the hospital.

Sophie spent 73 days at the Neurological Intensive Care Department at Southampton General Hospital, fighting for her life. She received the most incredible treatment and the family received the most incredible support here, before Sophie was transferred to the Bath Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre.

Sophie spends her time between the Bath Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre and Southampton General Hospital. She has been in a vegetative state since her accident. Her parents split the week into daily visits and her 14 year brother regularly catches the bus on Weekends to be by her side.

Sophie has had dozens of brain and body scans which are dangerous for her, as each time she is moved she could suffer additional trauma, so severe are her injuries. Each time Sophie, or any other Neurological patient, has a scan, 4 staff members have to accompany them for the procedure. This essential procedure involves disconnection and reconnection of life support equipment and means that 4 valuable members of the unit are off the Intensive Care Ward for up to 2 hours at a time.

Sophie has had 6 major, life threatening operations since the accident and her family have prepared for her death on 4 occasions. During the first week her siblings independently contacted the organ donation team at the hospital as they knew Sophie would have wanted to donate her organs.

Sophie Wilkinson has been fighting for her life, against all the odds, since October 9th 2007.

Sophie’s family want to epitomise her phenomenal fighting spirit by giving something back to the department that has done so much to help Sophie’s (and many others’) fight. The Director of Neurological Sciences at Southampton General Hospital believes that a Mobile CT Scanner would dramatically improve the wellbeing of patients receiving critical care support on the ward, whilst radically improving the efficiency of the highly trained personnel.

With that aim in mind the Wilkinson family have set up the Sophie’s Gift Fundraising Programme on behalf of the Southampton Hospital Trust to raise the £250,000 needed for this equipment. Among those that have confirmed their involvement in Sophie’ s cause are some of Sophie’s favourite Idols, Superstar Johnny Depp, celebrities such as Sharon Osborne and Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond, R&B stars UNESS and Jay Sean, along with Chris Tarrant and Mike Osman as well as International footballers Matt Le Tissier and Claus Lundekvam. The list grows daily.