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Sophia Mirza
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[[File:Sophia mirza.jpg|thumb|right|Sophia suffered from [[Severe and very severe ME#verysevere|very severe ME]]]] '''Sophia Mirza''' (8 August 1973-15 November 2005) was a young [[United Kingdom|British]] artist who suffered from [[myalgic encephalomyelitis]].<ref name=deathcertificate /> She has been referred to as the first patient in the UK to have [[chronic fatigue syndrome|CFS]] ([[myalgic encephalomyelitis|ME]]) listed as a cause of her death, however a letter to New Scientist magazine suggested there had been a previous death attributed to the disease.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg19125620-600-not-sadly-the-first/ | title = Not, sadly, the first | last = Senior | first = Richard| date = Jul 26, 2006|work=New Scientist|access-date=2018-08-10|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|at=Comment section|language=en-US}}</ref> == Life == Sophia joined the Woodcraft Folk and enjoyed weekly groups as well as camping. She was involved in the eco movement and recycling. Her art was incorporated into organic foods, yoga, camping, cycling and music.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.investinme.org/Article-050%20Sophia%20Wilson%2001.htm | title = The Story of Sophia and M.E. | last = | first = | date = |website=[[Invest in ME Research]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=2018-08-10}}</ref> == Illness == Sophia suffered two car crashes as a teenager and was hospitalized with meningitis. At age 19, she had multiple vaccinations before traveling to Africa for work, where she twice had malaria. She fell ill with [[myalgic encephalomyelitis|ME]] after an apparent [[flu-like illness]].<ref name=":0" /> == Death == Her death came not long after someone forced entry into her mother's home, sectioned her under the Mental Health Act, and forced Sophia to undergo psychiatric treatment at a mental hospital in 2003. After Sophia's death, an autopsy by an independent neuropathologist found Sophia's spine contained massive infection.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sophiaandme.org.uk/neuropathologicalreport.html | title = Neuropathological Report | last = | first = | date = |website=sophiaandme.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=2018-08-10}}</ref> == Inquest == '''Summary by:''' [[Invest in ME]] * Jun 13, 2006, [http://www.investinme.org/Article-050%20Sophia%20Wilson%2001-RIP.htm The Inquest in the Death of Sophia Mirza]<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.investinme.org/Article-050%20Sophia%20Wilson%2001-RIP.htm | title = The Inquest into the Death of Sophia Mirza | last = | first = | date = |website=[[Invest in ME Research]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=2018-08-10}}</ref> Dr. O’Donovan, one of the neuro-pathologists who had examined Sophia's spinal cord testified at the inquest he would not support the term ME as CFS is the modern term and he hadn't seen evidence of [[muscle]] [[inflammation]] (which they didn't look for.)<ref name=":4" /> Sophia's November 25, 2005 death certificate verdict: "SHE DIED AS A RESULT OF [https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=30776 ACUTE RENAL FAILURE] ARISING FROM THE EFFECTS OF [[Chronic fatigue syndrome|CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME]]"; previous [[meningitis]]; high body mass index, dorsal root [[ganglionitis]]; and [https://www.healthline.com/health/fatty-liver hepatic steatosis] were also listed.<ref name=deathcertificate>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sophiaandme.org.uk/legal/l1.jpg | title = Certified Copy of an Entry - Death Certificate | last = Mirza | first = Sophia | date = |website=SophiaAndME.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=}}</ref> Doctors [[Abhijit Chaudhuri]], a neurologist and Dominic O’Donovan, a neuropathologist, examined spinal tissue from Sophia Mirza prior to the inquest into her death and found changes to her [[spinal cord]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9342-first-official-uk-death-from-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/ | title = First official UK death from chronic fatigue syndrome | last = Hooper | first = Rowan | date = Jun 16, 2006|work=New Scientist|access-date=2018-08-10|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|language=en-US}}</ref> == TV news coverage == '''ITV Meridian Tonight''' *"Late M.E. sufferer Sophia Mirza" :Video 1<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvFwhW3FUY | title = Late M.E. sufferer Sophia Mirza - vid 1 | last = | first = | date = Dec 21, 2008 | website = YouTube|publisher=itv Meridian Tonight|via=|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=}}</ref> :Video 2<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOqX0MPVYpE | title = Late M.E. sufferer Sophia Mirza - vid 2 | last = | first = | date = Dec 21, 2008 | website = YouTube|publisher=ITV Meridian Tonight|via=|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=}}</ref> *"UK: Psychiatric Industry Victim (Part2)" :Video 3<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNWWjRx8tJM | title = UK: Psychiatric Industry Victim (Part2) | last = | first = | date = Mar 1, 2010 | website = YouTube|publisher=ITV Meridian Tonight|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=}}</ref> == Newspapers and print media == * Jun 16, 2006, [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9342-first-official-uk-death-from-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/ First official UK death from chronic fatigue syndrome]<ref name=":2" /> * Jun 16, 2006, [https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/i-never-imagined-my-sister-would-die-1.450619 "I never imagined my sister would die"]<ref name=":1">{{Cite news | url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/i-never-imagined-my-sister-would-die-1.450619 | title = I never imagined my sister would die | last = Wilson | first = Roison | date = Jan 24, 2012|work=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-08-10|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|language=en-US}}</ref> <blockquote>BEFORE MY sister Sophia got Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), I had subconsciously developed a disparaging view of the disease. The little I knew about ME at the turn of the century was from how it had been portrayed in the tabloid press.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote> *May 15, 2010, [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1277519/Criona-Wilson-recalls-daughters-losing-battle-ME-She-went-hellhole.html 'She went into a hellhole': A mother's candid account of her daughter's battle with ME]<ref name=":3">{{Cite news | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1277519/Criona-Wilson-recalls-daughters-losing-battle-ME-She-went-hellhole.html | title = 'She went into a hellhole': A mother's account of her daughter's fatal illness | last = Harding | first = Louette | date = May 15, 2010|work=Mail Online|access-date=2018-08-10|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=}}</ref> <blockquote>The coroner ruled that the 32-year-old had died of complications due to myalgic encephalomyelitis, a landmark verdict in the UK. A neuropathologist told the court that Sophia’s spinal cord was inflamed, with three quarters of her sensory cells displaying significant abnormalities. Yet, as Sophia’s treatment by the medical establishment had underlined – she was forcibly sectioned for a spell in 2003 – many doctors handle ME (also known as postviral or chronic fatigue syndrome), as if it were a mental condition.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote> *Jan 24, 2012, [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9342-first-official-uk-death-from-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/ First official UK death from chronic fatigue syndrome]<ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>Chronic fatigue syndrome has been given as an official cause of death for the first time in the UK. CFS, which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), has occasionally been recorded on death certificates in the US and Australia but it is far from being accepted as an organic disease.<ref name=":2" /></blockquote> == Website commemoration == *[http://www.sophiaandme.org.uk/ Sophia and M.E.]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sophiaandme.org.uk | title = Sophia and M.E.|website=sophiaandme.org.uk|access-date=2018-08-10}}</ref> Site created by Sophia's mother Criona Wilson to commemorate her daughter's life, illness, and passing. ==Severe ME Day== After Sophia Mirza's death, the British charity [[Invest in ME Research]] announced an annual [[Severe ME Awareness Day|Severe ME day]] would be held on August 8th, Mirza's birthday. Severe ME Day is a day of understanding and rememberance for those who have died from or with severe ME, and for those who are still living with severe ME.<ref name="awarenessday">{{Cite web|url = https://25megroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Remembrance-PRESS-RELEASE.doc| title = PRESS RELEASE {{!}} 8th August Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Understanding and Remembrance Day | last = 25% ME Group | authorlink = 25 Percent ME Group|access-date = 2021-03-22}}</ref> {{See also|Severe ME Awareness Day}} ==Other deaths from ME== A number of other deaths have been caused by [[myalgic encephalomyelitis]], including [[Merryn Crofts]], who passed away soon after her 21st birthday and donated her body to medical research into ME.<ref name =magicalmedicine /> In 2010, Professor [[Malcolm Hooper]] published [http://www.margaretwilliams.me/2010/magical-medicine_hooper_feb2010.pdf Magical Medicine: How to Make a Disease Disappear], which described the deaths of Sophia Mirza, Merryn Crofts, [[Brynmor John]] MP, who collapsed outside the House of Commons gyms after being told to [[exercise]] by his doctor, and many others whose deaths were attributed to ME.<ref name=magicalmedicine>{{Citation|url= http://www.margaretwilliams.me/2010/magical-medicine_hooper_feb2010.pdf| title = Magical Medicine: How to Make a Disease Disappear | date = Feb 12, 2020 | last = Hooper | first = Malcolm | authorlink = Malcolm Hooper|others=Contributions from members of the ME community. Researched by [[Margaret Williams]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.margaretwilliams.me/2010/magical-medicine-press-release_12feb2010.pdf| title = Press release | date = Feb 12, 2010 | last = Williams | first = Margaret | authorlink = Margaret Williams}}</ref>{{Rp|15-17}} {{See also|List of deaths caused by myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome|List of deaths caused by ME or CFS}} ==See also== *[[Merryn Crofts]] *[[Causes of death]] *[[Dorsal root ganglia]] *[[Severe and very severe ME]] *[[Biopsychosocial model]] *[[Abhijit Chaudhuri]] == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:People with ME, CFS, and/or FMS]] [[Category:Deceased people with ME, CFS, and/or FMS]]
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