Mum’s heartbreak as one-year-old’s rare disorder leaves her always hungry
A mum has told of her daughter’s “devastating” rare disorder – which will lead to her feeling permanently “starving”.
Min Kaur, 45, was told her one-year-old daughter, Sophia, suffers from Prader-Willi syndrome in January 2024 after she went in-and-out of consciousness and floppy.
The rare genetic disorder causes a wide range of physical symptoms, learning disabilities and behavioural challenges.
Typical signs of Prader-Willi syndrome include restricted growth, floppiness and an excessive appetite which can easily lead to dangerous weight gain.
While Sophia’s eating habits are currently “normal” and she appears to know when she’s full, her dietician has told Min she may start to overeat from the age of two.
Mum-of-one Min was even informed it may get so severe, she’ll need to put a lock on her fridge.
Former support worker Min, who cares for Sophia full-time, from Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, said: “I don’t know how long Sophia is going to live – at the moment, I’m trying to be as positive as I can.
“I’ve got an excellent care team and I’m learning as I go – I feel prepared to start keeping an eye on her weight within the next few years.
“Sophia’s doctors say she’ll live longer if she can maintain a healthy weight – they just can’t say how long.”
As an older mum, Min decided to get Sophia screened for Down syndrome while she was 12 weeks pregnant.
She says, had a screening been available for Prader-Willi syndrome and other genetic disorders, she would’ve done them, too.
The scan came back clear, and the original plan was for Min to have an induced labour at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, on January 12, 2024.
But when the day arrived, the drugs were unable to start Min’s contractions, and 14 hours later than planned, she was taken for a c-section.
“Sophia just wasn’t coming at all, so they decided to do a c-section,” Min said.
“I was absolutely desperate to get her out and have her here, safe and sound.”
Sophia was born at 2.22am on January 14, 2024, weighing 6lbs 3oz.
Min immediately noticed she wasn’t making any noise, was freezing and would fade in and out of consciousness.
But, she says, doctors kept an eye on her during genetic testing, and she was then taken to the ICU.
On January 21, 2024, Sophia’s genetic blood test came back positive for Prader-Willi syndrome.
Min said: “It was so scary.
“I kept blaming myself – but my care team reassured me I hadn’t done anything to hurt her.
“I didn’t know anything about Prader-Willi at all – of course, I’m more clued up now.
“They say she’ll have a shorter life – and won’t have an off-switch for eating.”
The tot spent four weeks in the intensive care unit, before being discharged back home with Min – who has needed to give up work in order to look after her full-time.
Sophia sees a physiotherapist every Thursday to help learn core movements like crawling – but she isn’t expected to hit her milestones at the same rate as “healthy” babies.
She also has a dietician, who will be helping Min create healthy meal plans for Sophia to stick to as she gets older.
“I’m really going to have to be in control of her food as she grows up,” she said.
“It’s not going to hit her until she’s two years old – as long as she doesn’t get obese, she should be able to live a longer life.
“At the moment, she seems to know when she’s full – she puts her lips together when she doesn’t want to eat any more.
“She’s also a healthy weight.”
While visiting Sophia daily in the ICU, Min spent all of her £5k savings on travel, food, urgent home repairs and sensory toys for the tot.
She hopes to adapt her home to meet Sophia’s needs – but is currently unable to afford the costs after giving up work.
“I’m not the kind of person to ask for help – and if I could go back to work ASAP, I would,” Min said.
“But I’ve come to the point where I have no choice.
“How can I give Sophia the best she deserves if she doesn’t have space?”
Min and Sophia’s GoFundMe can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-give-sophia-space-to-crawl-and-walk
Strangers raise more than $150k for a man’s life saving cancer treatment
Strangers and friends have raised more than $150k for a man’s experimental life-saving cancer treatment after he found out his insurance won’t cover it.
Matt Maclean, 49, was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer after noticing blood in his stool in October 2020.
He underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery – to remove part of his colon – which was successful and declared in remission in September 2021.
Just one year later, Matt’s blood cancer markers returned but doctors were unable to find a tumor, until a CT scan showed that Matt had a tumor on his liver and he underwent a successful liver resection.
After doctors discovered two new tumors, Matt decided to pursue two separate procedures – another surgical approach to ablate the tumors followed by a localized chemotherapy.
During his surgery in November 2024, three more tumors were discovered and the surgery was abate, Matt still underwent localized chemotherapy but it didn’t work.
After researching, Matt came across Verthermia who specializes in full-body hyperthermic extracorporeal applied tumor therapy – a cancer treatment method that uses a heart-lung machine to heat a patient’s blood outside the body.
Despite having FDA approval, the treatment is classed as experimental by Matt’s insurance provider so Matt has raised more than $150k to pay for the treatment.
Matt, a small business owner, from Seattle, Washington, said: “The challenge is, I have already had chemotherapy and it came back.
“Doing chemo might help in the short term, but all the data shows it will not cure my cancer and I really want to cure this.
“This new innovative treatment seems like it would be a critical step, we are at a crossroads and need to do something different rather than go down the same paths.
“It’s five times more effective than chemo with minimal side effects. Cancer patients can avoid a lot of damage standard care does and there’s a higher chance of survival.
“I am still in shock and overwhelmed by all the money that has been raised and the generosity of people who have donated.”
In October 2020, Matt noticed blood in his stool and booked an appointment with a specialist who performed a colonoscopy – a medical procedure that examines the large intestine and part of the small intestine.
It was while he was sitting in the waiting room that he noticed the doctor pause as he was waling into the room – Matt immediately knew it wasn’t good news.
“It was a surreal moment, my wife Elizabeth, was with me and it hit her more than me,” he said.
“We were sitting in the waiting room, I saw the doctor pause when he was about to walk in and I knew he didn’t want to come in.
“Straight away I knew something was going on.
“When you hear the word cancer you feel a sense of dread, but I also felt a sense of peace because of my faith and ‘ok, what do we do now.'”
Matt then underwent a full body scan to see if the cancer had spread to other organs – and started chemotherapy and radiation.
After a break from treatment, in the spring of 2021, doctors took out part of his colon and some of his rectum before undergoing months of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery.
Matt said: “In September 2021, I was in remission but I was going to be continuously monitored for any changes.
“Just after one year, a test showed that my blood cancer markers had begun to rise so I had a CT scan.
“But the results showed no signs of tumors so I kept being monitored.”
In the spring of 2024, a follow-up CT scan showed that Matt had a significant tumor in his liver and he underwent a successful liver resection.
“When they found the tumor in my liver, that was discouraging, they went back and looked at the previous scan and could see the tumor. Now they knew where it was.
“That made me stage 4. That was a low point, I would say it was harder than my original diagnosis.
“The liver surgery was successful and they removed the tumor with clear margins and I was hopeful I could start moving on.”
However, a month later, an MRI scan showed two more tumors.
Doctors decided they would try a dual approach where they would operate to remove the tumor and put him through a course of localized chemotherapy.
Matt said: “In November 2024, I underwent the surgery and they found three more additional tumors so they aborted the surgery.
“The surgeon believed that more surgery could promote the growth of other tumors.
“When I got out of surgery I was shocked that they didn’t do anything.
“I had to overcome all that emotion, but the doctor did the right thing.”
After finding out he had five cancerous tumors, Matt flew to IYA Medical, Scottsdale, Arizona, for localized chemotherapy.
In January 2025, a follow-up MRI scan and blood test showed that the tumors were still there and the chemotherapy didn’t work.
Matt said: “That was tough, I was getting scared at this point.
“I have two children, Josh, who’s 18, and Rachel, 16. It has been a burden for them.
“They have the fear that they are going to lose their dad, that breaks my heart more than anything.
“It has been very tough on my wife too, she is our rock, she has been nothing but supportive through this whole thing.
“That last year has been particularly tough on her.”
After finding out that the chemotherapy didn’t work, Matt came across Verthermia who specializes in full-body hyperthermic extracorporeal applied tumor therapy – a cancer treatment method that uses a heart-lung machine to heat a patient’s blood outside the body.
Despite having FDA approval, the treatment is classed as experimental by Matt’s insurance provider so they don’t cover it.
Matt has had to raise more than $150k to pay for the treatment.
Matt said: “The fact that so many people reacted to the funding page blew me away.
“The money doesn’t mean anything to me, more so it was realizing just how good people can be.
“People have really wanted to help me, they want to give.
“Even now I am still in shock, I am overwhelmed by the sheer generosity that people have shown to me.
“My kids shared it with their friends, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many of them responded.
“These are kids I used to coach and have watched grow up.”
Matt has booked an appointment at Verthermia for March 6, 2025, and is hopeful the treatment will be successful.
“I’m hopeful that I will ultimately beat this thing, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support and love from my community and family.”
Link to GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-matt-access-lifesaving-cancer-treatment
Teen fashionista obsessed with vintage – wearing 50s dresses and crocheting
Meet the teen fashionista obsessed with all things vintage – who loves wearing 1950s dresses, crocheting and refuses to have a TV in her room.
Mia Rayne, 13, has always loved to dress in feminine clothing but became fascinated with the 1950s dress style after seeing a YouTube video about vintage dolls.
Mia’s collection began with a Shein vintage style dress – gifted to her by her mum, Jodie, 37, for her birthday – and she now has a collection of around 50 outfits.
The pair now hunt out long sleeved dresses and Peter Pan collared frocks on Vinted and in vintage stores.
Mia loves to wear her vintage clothing all the time – even wearing her 1950s inspired coats to school despite bullies telling her she looks like “Mary Poppins”.
The teen also loves taking her crocheting hooks and books everywhere she goes and refuses to have a TV in her room.
Jodie, a business owner, who lives near Adlington, Lancashire, said: “She’s literally an old woman.
“It’s like she’s been reincarnated to a 1950s housewife or something.
“She refuses to have a TV in her room.
“She has a record player and creepy dolls in her room.
“I’m so in awe of her.
“She’s transformed into a sassy, amazingly confident growing girl.”
Mia said: “I have found it interesting to find out about different styles.
“My favourite is a blue dress – it’s 19th century and a long button up pretty dress with old lace. I fell in love with it.
“A few people said I have inspired them. I hope I can give them confidence.
“Make yourself feel like you fit in with yourself – not with other people.
“People copy because they feel they should fit in – everybody should be more crazy.”
Jodie says Mia has always been “quirky” in her dress sense.
She said: “She’s always been that child that wants to go to the supermarket in a princess dress.
“We’ve always encouraged her.
“A year ago she started dressing very feminine boho.”
Mia became interested in past eras after watching a video on vintage dolls and thinking it was “amazing”.
Jodie said: “She looked at photos of girls wearing little dresses and then said ‘mum, I want a vintage dress’.”
For her birthday in September 2024, Jodie bought Mia a vintage style dress.
She said: “She was beside herself. She was really excited.”
The pair then picked out a blue and pink coat from Monsoon and Zara – and Mia wore them to school.
Jodie said: “She was bullied when she went to school wearing one of those coats.
“She was pushed and laughed at.”
But Jodie shared a video with Mia about the situation on TikTok @miaraynec and was overwhelmed with support.
She said: “Her confidence overnight was phenomenal.
“There were thousands of comments saying ‘just be yourself’ and ‘I wish I had your confidence’.”
Since Mia’s confidence has grown, she now has a wardrobe boasting over 50 vintage dresses and underskirts.
She loves to turn up for her non-school uniform days in her full outfits and takes comments from bullies on the chin.
Jodie said: “The boys say ‘you look like Mary Poppins – what are you wearing?’.
“She says ‘now I’m going full vintage.’ ‘I’m going to show you and be even more extra’.”
The mum and daughter have now found a vintage shop to hunt for clothes and also get sent items from followers.
Jodie said: “She got sent a long sleeved blue dress. She got sent it with a note to say ‘my dad bought me this when I was a teen, I never had the confidence to wear it’.
“This child wears it to bed. It’s true vintage and layered.
“She’s very modest and very demure.
“She loves a Peter Pan collar.
“She likes to look her age.
“My 16-year-old is the complete opposite – she’s in leggings and a hoodie.”
Mia’s favourite eras are the 40s and 50s but she has also obsessed over Georgian dresses with all their “ruffles”.
Jodie says Mia is always wearing her dresses – even when it’s not the most practical.
She said: “She put nine dresses on when it snowed.
“She always says ‘fashion over function’.
“It makes her happy.”
Mia’s dream is to be an actor, and she is signed to Little Allstars, but Josie hopes she can continue to inspire others – child or adult – to wear what they want.
She said: “It helps people realise what they like is valid.”
“I’m a gentle parent – I don’t force my five-year-old to say sorry”
A ‘gentle parent’ says she doesn’t force her five-year-old son to say sorry as it is “disingenuous” – and says it’s taught him to “hold empathy” and communicate his feelings.
Kelly Medina Enos, 34, turned to gentle parenting when she was struggling with her son, George, then 18 months old, hitting her.
The mum turned to TikTok to share her worries and a stranger recommended she looked into gentle parenting – a style that focuses on empathy, respect, and understanding.
Kelly found it “ridiculous” at first but after researching she started to try it out – dropping “don’t” from her vocabulary and telling George what she’d like him to do instead.
She also stopped forcing him to apologise and instead guided George to step back and look at what’s happened in a situation.
Kelly doesn’t force any isolation – such as the ‘naughty step’ or ‘time out’ – but will offer ‘calm down corner’ as an option if he wants to some alone.
She is now mum to a daughter, Ariella, 14 months old, and has started to gentle parent her too – teaching her baby sign language so she can communicate if she wants more food or drink.
Kelly, a certified gentle parenting coach, from York, North Yorkshire, said: “I don’t force my child to say sorry.
“A child doesn’t develop empathy until they are around 11 years old.
“Expecting a child to have empathy is a learnt skill.
“If we say ‘go and say sorry’ – if say they snatched a toy – it’s forced.
“You find you haven’t allowed child to step back. Instead say – ‘what’s happened here? ‘How do you think that person is feeling?’ ‘What can we say?’
“Otherwise it’s disingenuous.
“It’s not that we don’t want them to say sorry but there is a difference between telling them what to do.
“We still guide them through.
“We teach our children how to be better next time.”
Kelly was struggling with George when he was 18 months old and says she had “no parenting style”.
She said: “He started to smack me and hit me.
“I thought ‘what do I do?'”
Kelly posted on her TikTok account and a stranger commented asking if she’d looked into gentle parenting.
She said: “The videos I saw at fist I thought surely it’s just talking gently.
“I thought it was a bit ridiculous.”
But Kelly felt “so lost” and wanted to “try anything” to help her and researched into the type of parenting further.
She started with trying to switch up her vocabulary.
She said: “Climbing was a huge thing for me. George was climbing on everything. I was saying ‘get down’ but that didn’t seem to land at all.
“I started saying ‘feet on the floor please’. I was astonished at the difference by changing the way I was speaking to him instead of telling him what I don’t want.
“I started to remove the word ‘don’t’. I still had discipline.
“I told him what I would like him to do.”
She now uses phrases such as “hands off” as much as she can instead of “don’t touch” or “no”.
Kelly also learnt to stop forcing George to say sorry and says it’s helped with his understanding of empathy despite his young age.
She said: “He does hold empathy and he’s incredible at communicating his feelings.
“He can come home in huge frustration and I hold him and he crumbles.
“He’ll say he’s had a bad day and offloads.
“If I hadn’t allowed him to feel and put him in his room, the naughty step or time out would he have opened up to me?”
Kelly doesn’t use “forced isolation” with her kids.
She said: “With forced isolation the child often becomes more of a people pleaser or rebels.
“They learn they have no voice and their feelings don’t matter.
“In time out a child is told to ‘sit and think about what you’ve done’. The child is not thinking how they could have dealt with that better.
“They learn ‘I need to take away my feelings of frustration and anger and then I’m deemed lovable’.
“We will stay away from forced isolation but we do a calm down corner which I offer to George.
“I’ll ask him ‘would you like some time in the calm down corner?’
“It’s got books and a breathe board – it’s a non-sensory nook.
“It’s an option.”
Through her own parenting journey Kelly decided to become a parenting coach and qualified in September 2024.
As part of her course she had to do a lot of self-work which really helped her look at why she was becoming frustrated at certain behaviours George presented.
She said: “I really struggled because of the way I was raised – there was a lot of shouting.
“It was distilled in me.
“I shouted quite often.
“I worked out I was expecting quite a lot of George.
“I said out loud ‘why does he act like such a child?’
“He used to pull out all the baby wipes.
“I remember the frustration.
“With Ariella I just think ‘put them back’.”
Kelly has started gentle parenting with Ariella already by teaching her baby sign language so she can communicate.
She said: “We started on baby sign language with her.
“It’s to alleviate that frustration.
“Ariella can communicate when she wants more food.
“After every single meal she’ll ask for more.
“How would our relationship be if you don’t know how to communicate if she wants more food?”
Kelly says gentle parents often get confused with permissive parenting – where parents seek peace, avoid boundary control and allow the child to be in control.
She says she’s not a “perfect parent” but will still place boundaries with her children.
She said: “Nobody never shouts.
“No one gets it right all day everyday.
“Gentle parenting is when we seek connection even when correcting a child.
“We allow space for bigger emotions and give them root lessons without blaming and shaming.
“People say it’s an easy way out – it’s probably the hardest form of parenting.
“I wish people would give it a change before they make a snap judgement.”
Follow Kelly on Tiktok @kellymedinaenos
“I’ve battled 5 tumours and discovered one after unusual symptom – craving olives”
A dad who has battled four brain tumours – discovering one after developing a craving for olives – is raising £40k for potentially life-saving treatment in the US.
Dan Horrocks, 33, was diagnosed with his first life-threatening tumour in August 2011 and went through brain surgery and started regular scans.
In May 2014 he was told he had another brain tumour and required surgery and radiotherapy.
A third mass in his brain was then identified in July 2018 after Dan developed an unusual symptom and started craving olives – which he hadn’t liked before.
This was followed by his latest – a tumour in his brain and one on his spine – which were spotted in October.
After 14 years including radiotherapy, four brain surgeries, one spinal operation, and six-monthly scans, Dan is now on his ‘last roll of the dice’.
The dad-of-one has almost run out of treatment options in the UK and has raised £40k to go to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, US, to explore pioneering treatments including genetic testing to find a personalised remedy.
Dan, a senior parliamentary researcher and Metropolitan Special Constable, from Battersea London, said: “I’m utterly bowled over and delighted with the amount of support and generosity we’ve received.
“I’m so shocked and overwhelmed with how quickly the money has come in.
“This could be the first step towards an innovative new treatment we can bring to the UK.
“The NHS staff have all been amazing – they said they can do surgeries but not much else more.
“That felt a bit like the end of a road and I’ve always tried to avoid that.”
Dan and his wife, Sonia Khan, 32, who works in public affairs, have raised over £50k so far – smashing their £40k fundraising goal.
The money will be spent on travel and consultations – including genetic tests on Dan and his tumour samples – to see if a personalised treatment can be found.
The couple say more targeted radiotherapy is also available in the US.
The couple – who both grew up near Birmingham, West Midlands – met and fell in love in 2010 when Dan was studying politics and international relations at Aston University and Sonia was at college.
Dan was diagnosed with his first of four brain tumours after suffering excruciating headaches, sickness, and dizziness.
GPs gave him medication to help with his balance, recommended acupuncture, and prescribed antidepressants.
Eventually the golf-ball sized grade two benign tumour was diagnosed after a free eye test at Vision Express when the optician spotted swelling on Dan’s optic nerves.
He was rushed to A&E at Russells Hall Hospital then had brain surgery the next day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Birmingham, followed by radiotherapy.
Dan said: “I’m eternally grateful to that optician, that eye test saved my life – I never turn down a freebie.”
Dan had to learn to walk, talk and “think” again after the surgery.
He was left with difficulty balancing, and problems with hearing on his left side and reduced use of his left hand.
Steroids made him gain weight and caused swelling which knocked his confidence.
Despite his illness Dan graduated with a 2:2 degree and the pair moved to London in 2013.
Dan was diagnosed with a second, grade three, tumour – in his brain stem after a routine scan.
All Dan’s five tumours have been apendymomas – rare severe tumours which usually affect children around age five or adults around age 45.
Dan said: “The mask they fit for targeted radiotherapy is so tight you can’t blink.
“I experienced panic attacks for the first time – it was horrible.”
The cancer came back again at the front of his brain where emotions are processed.
It was picked up by another routine scan but also Sonia and Dan noticed odd symptoms.
Dan started craving olives – which he hadn’t liked before – and also wanting spinach and tomatoes for breakfast.
He had brain surgery again at QEH and then radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea.
Dan said: “After the surgery for the third tumour I found it easier to express my emotions – I’m more empathetic and get upset more easily.”
Dan adopted his therapy dog Bella, a Shih Tzu, now nine, from Battersea Dog’s Home in 2019.
Bella helps him keep to a routine because his short-term memory has been damaged by radiotherapy.
Dan and Sonia married in 2020 and had their son, Elijah in 2022.
Dan said: “He’s a great happy little boy and gives me new determination to get through this.
“The idea of him having to grow up without his dad is too upsetting.”
Dan was diagnosed with a stage three tumour in his brain and one in his spine in October.
He had brain surgery in November and spinal surgery in December.
The tumours are in cells which line the paths where cerebral spinal fluid moves through the spine, and the cancer could come back anywhere in his spine or brain.
He’s having radiotherapy on his brain and spine at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.
This time it will take Dan up to six months to recover.
And doctors have said he’s had the maximum radiotherapy they can safely give him on the NHS, and chemotherapy is only likely to be 14% successful in treating his tumours.
If a treatment can be found in the US Dan and Sonia will have to fundraise again, they’ve said.
Dan says he operates on an ‘ignorance is bliss’ protocol to help him cope.
He said: “I don’t ask the doctors for a prognosis because I don’t want to know – my situation is so rare they wouldn’t be able to tell me anyhow.
“I just go through every day and only think about this stuff if I have to.
“I find having a positive attitude is the only way forward.
“The treatment I’m having now puts me at three times the risk of heart attack or stroke, so to borrow my favourite phrase of Churchill’s I have to keep buggering on.”
Link to Dan’s GoFundMe page – https://www.gofundme.com/f/dans-final-chance-to-fight-brain-cancer?attribution_id=sl:035ce9e8-a810-4231-8e07-582f32597e33&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link
Girl left with burns after mum kissed her while wearing lip-plumping gloss
A mum is warning other parents after she kissed her daughter while wearing a lip-plumping gloss – and gave her a “red burn”.
Sarah Davies, 41, applied the Too Faced Lip Injection Maximum Plump Extra Strength lipgloss on February 1, before taking her daughter, Ava Davies Spurr, eight, to a spa themed birthday party.
Two hours after putting on the gloss and forgetting she was wearing it, Sarah gave Ava a kiss on her cheek and was shocked when a red mark immediately appeared – with a clear lip mark.
The mum-of-one washed the product off with water and went straight to her local chemist – who advised her to apply Sudocrem and gave Ava antihistamines.
Luckily the mark went down and Ava has been left with no lasting damage but Sarah wants to see clearer warnings about the risk plumping glosses.
Sarah, a health care assistant, from Brighton, East Sussex, said: “I have only used it a couple of times – it burns when you put it on.
“It does really work.
“I didn’t feel any product on my lips and I kissed Ava on the cheek.
“It immediately came up red.
“It was like a topical burning.
“I saw a lip mark and realised what it was.”
Sarah had bought the product over Christmas to try out – and said she didn’t see the warnings about the dangers to children as she had thrown the packaging away.
She said: “It’s common sense.
“I just didn’t think after two hours it would still do that.”
The capsicum in the lip gloss creates a burning sensation to plump the lips and does include an ingredients list in the packaging.
It says not use the product anywhere but your lips and to keep away from children.
When Sarah saw the red mark after kissing her daughter she acted quickly.
Sarah said: “Within a minute it was hot to the touch.
“She said it was burning.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to blister.
“If that was a newborn baby it could have been awful.”
Sarah said Ava has been left with a little bit of redness on the cheeks but is OK.
She would like to clearer labelling on Too Faced and similar products packaging on their websites.
She said: “I’m not the only idiot.
“It needs to be clearer labels.
“If I can do it, anyone can.
“I’m not going to use it again.”
Too Faced said: “While most customers use this product without any issues, skin sensitivities vary from person to person, we suggest reviewing the Lip Injection Lip Gloss and its ingredients with your health care provider to determine if it’s suitable for your use.”
Girls football club accused of cheating because some of them have short hair
A team of young girl footballers has launched a campaign defending their right to have short hair – after some were accused of being boys during a game.
The girls of York Railway Institute (YRI) AFC u12s have mounted the ‘Girls can have short hair. Get Over It’ campaign after a series of complaints from parents and coaches of rival teams.
In one recent incident a game was actually stopped because the rival team wanted to ensure that all the players were actually girls – leaving some of the York players upset..
YRI AFC players Camille Porhel and Flo Topham, both 11, have short hair cuts and say that going to matches now made them anxious.
Flo said: “I feel quite angry and sad when people think I am a boy, and I feel anxious about going to matches or tournaments.
“Yes it does upset me definitely because they are commenting on how I look, and I am a girl and I am just being me.”
Camille, who started playing the sport when she was five, added that she can’t believe people are still making the remarks in the 21 century.
She said: “I get very annoyed because nobody can focus on what they are doing on the pitch but instead have to listen to the comments and it just makes the experience so unpleasant.
“It’s the 21st century and people are still making remarks on girls’ short hair.
“It makes me wonder what kind of society our future will be like for young footballers my age.”
The youngsters have now started a campaign to support young girls with short hair and wear t-shirts that say ‘Girls can have short hair, get over it’ when they are warming up before matches.
They hope the campaign will help other girls “not feel alone” and will encourage other parents and coaches to not say “unkind things.”
Camille said: “I think it will help because it shows that you are not alone when people are being ignorant and you have support no matter how secluded you feel.”
Flo said: “Yes I do think it will help other girls because we are trying to spread our word, and let them know they are not alone – also that words can really hurt.
“It’s especially bad when it’s other parents or coaches saying unkind things.”
Camille’s mum Aimée Little, 50, says that both girls are still playing football which is “very courageous” but feel like they are more anxious before playing a match.
She said: “Both girls are just girls who want to play football and have short hair – they find it really bizarre that there would even be any fuss about it.
“To think that we are still talking about this in 2025, is pretty crazy.
“In the past, it was really accepting that women and girls would have short hair.
“It’s like if you are a good footballer and you’ve got short hair, then you must be a boy – and that is really bizarre.
“They are playing, which is very courageous of them, but they are more anxious around playing football because of the abuse that they get from other parents and other coaches.”
Aimée, of York, North Yorks., says they’ve had an incredible amount of responses from their campaign, from other people who have experienced the same thing.
She said: “The amount of responses we’ve had from our social media campaign is actually quite sad.
“It’s everywhere in grassroots football – we aren’t the only team to be experiencing this.
“So many people have said their daughter has experienced it or that they’ve experienced it, so I think we’ve touched on something much bigger.
“People don’t even realise that this level of discrimination exists in girl’s sport.”
“I ‘reward’ myself with £100 gifts after my periods – it’s rough and we deserve it”
A woman spends up to £100 per period each month on “treats” to get her through.
Emily Rae Baker, 31, says she experiences “rough” periods which cause her whole body to “shut down”.
She’s currently in the process of getting her painful periods investigated – and has been placed on a 52-week waiting list for a gynaecologist.
As motivation and reward for getting through it each month, she’ll treat herself to anything she fancies during – and after.
She doesn’t budget – and says her daily treat can be anything from a £5 coffee to a £100 item of clothing.
Emily, a professional dancer from Derby, Derbyshire, said: “When your period is tough and you feel like the devil is in your body – it can be a little silver lining to treat yourself afterwards.
“I suffer quite badly with my periods – they’re quite intense.
“My way of getting through my period is promising myself little treats and rewards.
“You’re not going to see me pull up in a £5k Range Rover any time soon, but I don’t focus too much on budgeting for it.”
In December 2024, Emily came up with the idea of treating herself to gifts after each period, while working in Dubai.
During the five-day interval, she spent £100 on luggage, New Balance trainers and a tracksuit from Boohoo.
But she says the gifts don’t always have to be lavish – as sometimes she’ll just fancy a freshly-made coffee, scented candles, or hot water bottle, often costing £5-7.
“I’m not flashy – I like doing wholesome things as well, like taking myself out for a meal,” she said.
“I’m definitely not advising everyone to go out and spend loads of money.
“It doesn’t have to be a big present and you can live within your means – it could be something as small as a Starbucks.”
Emily says she’s always suffered from painful periods – but is currently unsure why.
She feels like her body goes into “full shutdown,” and getting out to buy her treats is motivation enough to leave the house.
“With my job as a dancer, it’s rough,” she added.
“I suffer really badly with stomach pain, and it’s just nice to know you’ve got that little treat coming.”
For her February cycle, Emily plans to spend up to £100 on a fine-line tattoo of a quote on her right arm and hand.
She’s been wanting to treat herself to the design since following the artist on TikTok, and finally feels ready to take the plunge.
“As a dancer, I can’t really have naff tattoos,” Emily said.
“I’d wanted this fine line tattoo for a long time – I found an artist on TikTok, got chatting to her, and loved her work.
“So I thought: ‘I’m going to book it as my February treat.’
“It’s my little silver lining.
“I won’t say what the quote is – but it’s very close to my heart and a daily reminder to just keep being me.”
A LIST OF EMILY’S ‘PERIOD TREATS’:
A blanket
Some scented candles
New Balance trainers
A tracksuit
A new pair of glasses
Starbucks coffee
A fine-line tattoo
“I was clinically dead for 14 minutes when I gave birth to my healthy baby girl”
A mum was ‘clinically dead’ for 14 MINUTES before waking up to discover she had given birth to a bouncing baby girl.
Natasha Sokunbi was 37 weeks pregnant when she called 111 after she suffered chest pains and was struggling to breathe.
The 30-year-old was advised to go to A&E where she collapsed of a cardiac arrest in the waiting room at Royal Stoke University Hospital.
As medics desperately tried to bring her back to life, doctors also battled to save her unborn baby.
Just four minutes after being rushed into surgery, doctors delivered 6lbs 7oz baby girl Beau via emergency caesarean section.
Medics spent more than 30 minutes resuscitating Natasha before she was stable enough to be put into an induced coma.
She woke up the next day in the critical care unit and was told she had had given birth to a girl.
Natasha, from Stafford, said: “My heart wasn’t beating when the doctors delivered Beau. I was basically dead when they pulled her out.
“One team of medics were delivering her via C-section while another team performed CPR on me.
“The next thing I remember was when I woke up in intensive care and my husband walked over to me with a photo of Beau and said ‘it’s a girl’.
“We hadn’t found out the sex so it was a complete surprise.
“I couldn’t see Beau straight away because I was still very weak and she was in the neonatal unit but I finally saw her a few days later.
“I was really poorly but the doctors and medical teams were amazing.
“They told me I’d been clinically dead for 14 minutes. They saved my baby and they saved me.”
Natasha and husband Ayo, 29, had been looking forward to the birth of their second child when she collapsed on December 3.
Support worker Natasha, who is originally from South Wales, said: “I wasn’t feeling well for a couple of weeks because of chest infection.
“On that morning I called 111 who advised me to make my way to the Royal Stoke.
“I got a taxi to the hospital and went into triage and told them I was really having problems breathing and they told me to wait.
“As I walked back into the waiting room I collapsed and fell forward onto my baby bump.
“I remember bits, like the doctors performing CPR and putting a defibrillator on me.
“When I was having the C-section I remember being in pain but then everything going black.”
After Beau was delivered, doctors called Natasha’s husband Ayo, also a support worker, who rushed to her bedside.
Natasha said: “Ayo had no idea I was in hospital because he was asleep with our other baby daughter when I took a taxi to A&E.
“When he received a call from the hospital he thought they were telling him that I’d had the baby but the said he should get here straight away.
“He was so good. When I was in the coma I can remember hearing him talking to me saying ‘Come on Tash’ ‘Please wake up.’”
Natasha spent three weeks in hospital and had an ICD heart-starter device fitted to prevent her suffering another cardiac arrest in the future.
The mum-of-two is now back home and looking after Beau and her 15-month-old daughter Love.
She said: “I have had heart problems and I think the pregnancy put extra strain on me.
“I still have flash backs and worry that it’ll happen again but I’m just so grateful to the doctors for saving me and Beau.
“To start with I couldn’t hold her very well, but I always tried to do skin to skin with her.
“Being a mum of two is great and I’m regaining my strength and independence.
“Beau is a miracle, and you can never fully put what they’ve done for us it into words.
“The staff were all fantastic. Now I’m much more appreciative of life and won’t take anything for granted ever again.”
In recognition of their actions staff involved in the care of Natasha and Beau have been presented with the Chief Executive Award.
Dr Andrew Bennett, who was one of the first doctors to treat Natasha, said: “The issue when you have a mother who goes into cardiac arrest is that you not only have the team required to resuscitate mum, you very quickly of course when the baby is out, also have a team ready to resuscitate the baby if that’s required.
“So the number of clinical teams involved is huge. This has got to be one of the proudest moments that this department really has ever seen and that collaborative effect from all involved was incredible.”
Senior sister, Alison Hopwell, added: “It’s a rare event but it happened and it happened on a very very busy December morning.
“The department was very busy; however, the whole team, too many to mention, from all specialties pulled together on that morning.”
Dr Simon Constable, chief executive, said: “Natasha’s case is about as serious as it gets and involves not just one person but multiple teams looking after and getting the outcome for her and Beau.
“So it’s a great testament to the real skill and team work that made the outcome what it is because it could have been so very different and I think we recognise that would have been a tragedy.”
“I am a momo twin – we were given a 1% chance of survival”
A woman who is one of the rarest types of twins in the world says she is grateful to be alive after doctors gave her and her sister a one per cent chance of survival.
Hope and her sister, Faith Baxter, both 24, are Momo twins – monochorionic monoamniotic – identical twins who share a placenta and amniotic sac.
Doctors told their parents that if they went to full term there was a chance one of the twins would not survive so they decided to induce them two months early.
The twins spent six weeks in the NICU and were given a one per cent chance of survival.
Hope said it was a “miracle” that both of them are alive and thank their parents every day for their decision to have them induced.
Hope, a dental student, from Lima, Ohio, said: “I didn’t realise the severity and extent of the amount of fear my parents were put through.
“I am so grateful to them to be here – every day is a gift for us.
“On our birthday, we reflect on the fact we are miracle babies. I am so proud of how far we have got.
“Even to have both of us here, alive and well, is a miracle.”
Her mum was five months pregnant when doctors told her she was expecting Momo twins.
Mo/Mo twins have a higher risk of complications during the pregnancy – including infant death and childhood disability – which fuelled their parent’s decision to induce them two months early.
Hope said: “When they found out we were Momo twins, they were told there could be further complications down the line which is why we were born two months premature.
“It was my dad’s call, the doctors didn’t want us out so early as we were fully developed.
“They told my dad that if we went full term there was a chance that one of us might not make it.
“My dad said he wanted both twins to survive and told the doctors he wanted us to be induced two months early.”
The twins were born on August 25, 2000, and spent six weeks in the NICU.
Faith was born with a collapsed lung and Hope was born with heart problems and was being closely monitored.
It was in the NICU that their parents named them Hope and Faith.
Hope said: “It was definitely a scary time for my parents, everything leading up to the birth was scary for them.
“We were named Hope and Faith as our parents weren’t sure if we would make it.
“Doctors gave us a one per cent chance of survival as they didn’t think either one of us would survive.”
Despite being identical twins, Hope said their parents wouldn’t get them mixed up as she was born with heterochromia – the presence of different coloured eyes in the same person.
Hope said: “Lucky for them, they never got us mixed up growing up. The way they would tell Faith and I apart is I have two different coloured eyes.
“I don’t think they struggled with us growing up, they had a system where when one of us would be at pre-school and the other one would be at home with our parents.
“They didn’t want us to completely rely on each other.”
Hope said despite being best friends with her sister, it could be challenging growing up together as they would spend all day at school together and go home together.
Now, the sisters live in completely different states as Faith is training to be a doctor at VCOM-Carolinas, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Hope said: “I would say we are best friends, we have always motivated each other.
“But there were definitely some struggles, being an identical twin, especially in high school, it felt like a competition with sports, grades and who had more friends.
“Because we’re so busy now, we don’t really realise how we’re not together.
“We are constantly talking to each other over text or FaceTime.
“We are always talking together so we forget how we haven’t seen each other in ages as we always know what we get up to.”
