SOPHIE Whitworth took her daughter Taliyah to the GP when the five-year-old began vomiting twice a week after eating strawberries.
“I just listened to the doctors and thought, ‘it’s probably strawberries then’ but in my gut I knew something wasn’t right,”; said the 33-year-old from , said.
Six months later, Taliyah was diagnosed with a which Sophie says has since “completely changed her character”; and “destroyed her brain”;.
The mum-of-two claims doctors repeatedly “fobbed off”; her concerns, brushing them aside as a possible strawberry .
This was until she demanded a scan in 2018, when Taliyah collapsed at school.
The fruit-loving tot had been scoffing a punnet of strawberries each night, so Sophie initially assumed she’d eaten too many and cut them out of her diet.
But despite the change, the continued.
Taliyah also started complaining of painful , became moody, and had trouble with her balance.
Sophie says she took her daughter to the GP numerous times over six months, only to be told it was probably a “virus”; and to give her Calpol.
“When it got really bad, I took her to hospital,”; said Sophie.
She addded: “They made her walk in a straight line, she was wobbling and cross-eyed but they still insisted nothing was wrong.
“One day the school rang and said she’d fallen asleep and wasn’t waking up properly.
“That’s when I rushed her to hospital and demanded a scan.”;
Security were called when Sophie refused to leave.
Eventually doctors agreed to do tests and found a the size of a tennis ball in the back of Taliyah’s head.
“I knew they were going to find something,”; she said.
“I just flooded into tears because it was a shock. I couldn’t console myself for a good minute.
“I saw the scan and [the tumour] was massive.”;
Taliyah was blue-lighted to another hospital where she had to insert a shunt, followed by a gruelling 14-hour operation to remove the tumour.
“After the operation is] when I always say I lost my little girl as she did not come out the same,”; Sophie said
“I was dealing with grief. She came out and couldn’t walk, talk or eat. She was a different character and it really destroyed her brain,”; she added.
Taliyah, now 12, went through 30 rounds of radiotherapy and nine months of in 2018.
For years, the family hoped she was in the clear until earlier this month [May 3 2025], Sophie received heartbreaking news that the cancer had returned and was no longer treatable.
“She has cerebral palsy and bell’s palsy and she’s got kidney problems and hearing problems,”; said Sophie.
“She didn’t eat for three years.
The mum said she first thought something was “brewing again”; when her daughter’s mood got worse and she started suffering from and neck pain.
Doctors confirmed the tumour had returned and spread and could not be operated on.
You know your own child so if you think there’s something not right, you need to push that. Listen to your gut instinct
Sophie Whitworth33
They offered low-dose chemotherapy to prolong her life, but not cure the disease.
Sophie is now refusing further hospital treatment and is raising £200,000 to fund at-home care and alternative therapies including a £10,000 .
“I don’t want to put her through chemo again. I’ve done so much research and I believe there are holistic ways that can help,”; she said.
“She’s struggling as it is. I want to keep her home, where she’s comfortable. I’m a mother crying out for help. This is my last resort.”;
Now Sophie is urging other parents to push for answers if they feel something is wrong.
“Definitely push and demand and don’t ever take no for an answer. You have a right to push it forward,”; she said.
“You know your own child so if you think there’s something not right, you need to push that. Listen to your gut instinct.”;
