Sophie fights back praised by family

Shropshire youngster Sophie Ralphs is a happy six-year-old girl — but when she was a baby, she spent four weeks in intensive care battling pneumococcal meningiti, a life threatening condition.

Now the determined youngster is looking forward to starting mainstream school in September and her mum Rachel, 35, is full of praise for the special school which helped get her daughter back on her feet.

Sophie lives with her mum, dad Terry, 41, and brother Charlie, four, in Bayston Hill, near Shrewsbury.

She currently attends Severndale Specialist School, in Shrewsbury, but from September she will be moving to Oakmeadow Primary School, in Bayston Hill.

When she was 20 months old, she was rushed to the paediatric intensive care unit at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Mrs Ralphs said: "The doctors couldn't tell us how she would be.

"They said she'd never be the same again and we didn't know what the future would hold."

Sophie managed to pull through but the illness left her with brain damage.

Mrs Ralphs added: "She was like a newborn baby — she couldn't speak, lift her head or roll over."

She started Severndale Specialist School in the nursery in January 2007.

Mrs Ralphs said: "When she started nursery, she couldn't walk.

"She was three years old and could only crawl but the staff were brilliant with her and coached her to learn to walk again."

When she was five, Sophie moved from the nursery to the school where staff continued to work with her to help her learn to get around.

Sophie is currently unable to use her right arm and her right side is weaker but she is going to have therapy to help her arm from October.

And although she sometimes has difficulty getting around, Mrs Ralphs said she was amazed at her daughter's determination.

She said: "Her teacher Sarah Russell and all the staff at Severndale have been so wonderful.

"Sophie will be sad to leave but she's looking forward to moving on to Oakmeadow Primary School.

"She'll always have problems but we're really proud of her, she won't let anything hold her back," said Mrs Ralphs.

By Emma Kasprzak