A mother has shared her daughter’s ordeal after she was diagnosed with leukaemia after doctors wrongly suspected she had a sickness bug.
Sofia Coelho Flatt, 41, from Stotfold, Bedfordshire, says her daughter Amelie Coelho Flatt, 12, has been struggling with her health since she was a toddler. Amelie has since fought off leukemia four times. The schoolgirl most recently underwent a life-saving stem cell transplant and had a bone marrow transplant in April 2024.
Now, Amelie and her mother Sofia Coelho Flatt, 41, are encouraging people to sign up to the stem cell register after a stranger “selflessly gave his cells” to save her life. Reflecting back to when Amelie first dropped ill, Sofia said her condition was initially brushed off by doctors and said she witnessed her “fading away”.
The terrifying health battle first started when Amelie was just three. In July 2015, she became “very sick, very quickly”, but doctors thought she could have a bug or a urine infection. Speaking about how her daughter’s condition quickly deteriorated, Sofia, who is also a mum to Aiden, nine, said: “She was transferred to intensive care at Great Ormond Street. She was there on Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday was when she was diagnosed with leukaemia.”
Aiden was just four months old at the time, while Amelie had only recently turned three. “It all feels like a blur now,” Sofia said. “No one wants to hear your child has cancer, but equally she was literally fading away in front of us, so there was some relief that actually when they finally diagnosed her, they were going to fix her.”
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Amelie stayed strong and looked forward to brighter days
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Amelie is looking forward to returning to school
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Amelie was treated with chemotherapy from July 2015 to December 2017 and came off treatment for three years before she relapsed in February 2021. Sofia added: “It (the relapse) came as a real shock to us all, and was really difficult for Amelie to take. She obviously understood so much more than she did when she was just three.”
Amelie again had chemotherapy, but this time was able to also be treated using immunotherapy, and once again beat the cancer, only for it to return, just four months after finishing treatment, in August 2023. “It feels like an out of body experience,” said Sofia. “You’re not even out of it really before she then relapsed again. It’s a very different conversation when they’re older and understand everything and what they’re going through.”
After being diagnosed with leukaemia for a third time, Amelie was treated with Car T-cell therapy – after this failed, a bone marrow transplant, which she had in April 2024, was her last option. What followed were four difficult months in which Amelie was isolated in hospital. Just days after being released from hospital in August 2024, Amelie was able to start living her life to the fullest with a special trip to see Taylor Swift. “I went with my best friend, Ella, and it was really amazing, because I had such a tough few years,” Amelie said.
“I wasn’t expecting to be able to do anything that amazing.We went there and we had normal seats, but obviously from being in hospital a lot of the time it was quiet, so I was a little bit overwhelmed. But Wembley was really nice and gave us a private box. I probably wouldn’t have been able to stay at the concert without that, so I’m very thankful.”
Amelie met Gino d’Acampo, whose programmes she enjoyed in hospital
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Sofia said: “It was a risk taking her as we had only been out of hospital 12 days. As her mother, I was absolutely petrified to take her. You’ve got to remember, she’d been in hospital, isolated for 127 days. So then to take her to be amongst that many people. You can’t go through what she’s been through her whole life and not live, we have to start living. She’s got to start having some positive things in her life, and she needs to to live and be happy and experience happiness and joy. It was worth the risk.”
Among Amelie’s dreams are to release baby turtles into the wild, as well as to see one of her favourite animals, the giraffe, in Kenya. “It would mean the world to me, I love animals so much. I haven’t been on holiday in a long time because of Covid and my health and all sorts. I think my other dream would be – I love fashion – so to go to Paris and look at all the fashion shops and boutiques.”
She added: “I’m excited to go back to school to see my friends. At home I have my tutor, I’m learning, but I don’t have any of the fun bits like art or my friends. I’m looking forward to a fresh start in the new year with my mum and my brother. My brother is so brave, so is all of my family. I’m also hoping to post vlogs on TikTok about my experience as I’ve never seen anyone on social media that is in my position that talks about it.”
Amelie said that her health journey has taught her to “make the most of stuff and just have fun”. She praised her mother and said: “I knew my mum was strong but I didn’t know how strong she really could be.” For Sofia, getting people to sign up to the stem cell register is now a top priority. “There’s a 34-year-old German man who selflessly gave his cells to save Amelie’s life,” she said. “To anybody reading, please, if you can, first of all donate blood.
“Amelie has had hundreds of transfusions, and those transfusions have saved her life. And sign up to the (stem cell) register – it’s not as scary as some people think. It’s given her life.” According to the blood cancer charity DKMS, more than 2,000 people in the UK are told each year they need a stem cell transplant.
To learn more about becoming a stem cell donor you can visit here.