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SALT LAKE CITY — Sophie Hansen is a bashful 12-year-old girl. But get her on ice, and that shyness melts away.
She has been ice skating for five years despite what she's bravely faced for much longer.
“Sophie has been a patient at Primary (Children’s Hospital) since she was 3,” said her mother, Jill Hansen.
Doctors diagnosed Sophie with an auto-immune liver disease. She's waiting for a liver transplant.
When the team at Primary Children's heard Sophie was heading to Sun Valley to watch her idols skate, they made a few calls and everything came together.
“I saw Sophie a few days before they went,” said Barbie Robinson of Primary Chidren’s. “I said, ‘This is going to happen. You’re going to meet them. But I think you should take your skates.’ ”
It's a good thing she listened, because Sophie took to the ice to skate with the stars — Charlie White and Meryl Davis.
“I’ve been watching them skate for a long time,” Sophie said.
First it was a few laps around the rink and a little chit chat. But then, White asked Sophie to skate with him.
Hands linked, arms stretched wide, they glided into a lift.
“He just picked me up, flipped me around and put me on his shoulder,” she explained.
It was just a few minutes on the ice, but a memory Sophie will never let go.
“It was awesome,” she said.
“Just watching her get that chance to skate with them, she was all smiles,” Jill Hansen said. “It was fun.”
Then the ice cleared, and it was Sophie's time to shine.
“Hopefully it gives her something to carry with her while she waits,” Robinson said.
Sophie has been on the transplant list for a year and probably has another year to wait.
