Model Gave Up Her Liver To Save Young Child's Life But Her Body Changed 'Dramatically'

A model who traveled from Australia to the United States to donate her liver to her dying nephew has talked up about the major physical toll it had on her.

Sophie Hughes, a model who had spent the previous three years living in Australia, learned with terrible sadness that her infant nephew had a serious liver condition.

(Image: sophwithlove/Instagram)

Oscar was born in 2016, but as soon as her brother Ant welcomed his son into the world, the infant was found to have biliary atresia, a rare and possibly deadly illness.

The condition results in scarring and blockage of the bile ducts both outside and inside the liver.

Ant and his wife Kerry were not requested to volunteer by the doctors since they would have to take care of Oscar.

(Image: sophwithlove/Instagram)

Sophie instantly offered herself as a donor after learning the news, flying 17,000 miles back to the UK.

“I was a good match because I had a small, fatty liver,” Sophie, who lives in Wilmslow, told the Manchester Evening News.

“So it worked out in his favor."

After Sophie's liver was successfully removed and implanted into Oscar during an eight-hour surgery, Sophie spent four months in the UK before returning to Sydney.

She went from a size 8 to a size 14 in a very short period of time, and she immediately realized that her body form was changing quickly.

“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.”

“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.”

Due to her body image-related cripplingly low self-worth, Sophie stopped modeling.

But two years later, at the age of 27, she was found on Instagram by a plus-size modeling agency.

She has resumed her modeling and content creation career and boldly displays her scar and curves on her Instagram page.

“Other body-positive influencers on Instagram really inspired me,” she added.

“It made me realize there’s so much more to me than just the way I look and the body I’m in."