A woman who dropped everything and flew from Australia to England to donate part of her liver to save her baby nephew's life has explained how it changed her body and her life, forever. Sophie Hughes was in Australia when she received an email to say her baby nephew was seriously ill – and only she could save his life.
Model Sophie had been living in Australia for three years in 2016 when he brother Ant told her newborn nephew Oscar had a rare and life-threatening illness, Oscar had biliary atresia, which causes ducts around the liver to become scarred and blocked.
The condition can prove fatal if not corrected with surgery or a liver donation, but doctors did not want Ant and his wife Kerry to volunteer as donors because they would need to look after Oscar. As soon as Sophie heard the news she offered herself as a donor. Ant and Kerry declined, hoping another donor would be found.
The first time Sophie saw Oscar when she flew in from Australia (Image: Garyrobertsphoto.com)
But as Oscar’s health worsened, the couple changed their minds and Sophie flew 17,000km to the UK for the operation.
“I was a good match because I had a small, fatty liver,” Sophie told the Manchester Evening News, “So it worked out in his favour.
“Before the operation, doctors told me that weight gain was very likely. But when you’re talking about saving a child’s life, you don’t hear that because it’s irrelevant. It doesn’t matter. You’re not thinking about that in the moment – but they weren’t wrong and I started to gain weight after the surgery.”
Sophie before the surgery (Image: Sophie Hughes)
The gruelling eight-hour operation was successful and Sophie spent four months in the UK before flying back to Sydney. In the next few months she ballooned from a size 8 to a size 14.
“It was a really big adjustment looking at myself in the mirror,” Sophie said. “I had a seven-inch scar down my stomach and my body image was at an all-time low.
Sophie is now fully confident in herself (Image: Sophie Hughes)
“I struggled to put a bikini on and I struggled to be confident within myself, which to be honest isn’t something I’ve struggled with before.
“I was eating well and exercising and the weight was piling on regardless,” she added. “Nothing had changed, yet my body was changing so rapidly.
Sophie says she is happier than ever (Image: Sophie Hughes)
“It was really rough because I had to relearn what I could wear and how to dress for my shape which I never had to do on a bigger body before.”
Sophie was left with body image anxiety and believed she would never model again. No matter what she ate or how much exercise she did, she was unable to return to the body she had before.
But two years later she was scouted by a plus-size modelling agency on Instagram. Sophie moved back to the UK and now works as a successful model and content creator, proudly showing off her curves and scar on her Instagram page . She also helps support the Children's Liver Disease Charity.
“Other body positive influencers on Instagram really inspired me,” she said. “It made me realise there’s so much more to me than just the way I look and the body I’m in.
“I moved back to England and started doing modelling here and that was the start of my career as I know it today.
Sophie Hughes has been modelling since she was 15 (Image: Sophie Hughes)
“I’m the happiest, most confident and most settled in my body that I’ve ever been,” Sophie said. “Now that I’ve just turned 32, I think part of that is age, you realise there’s more important things in the world.
“But a lot of that is learning and really working on and respecting my body. I feel strong and I feel healthy, and those are the things I focus on now – not my cellulite or my muffin top.”
