By Paul Jeeves
The Express
SHEFFIELD, England — A girl aged three who starred as a baby in TV soap Emmerdale has tragically died after her nativity costume caught fire.
Sophie Firth, who was due to be an angel in her nursery nativity play next week, was engulfed in flames as she proudly put the costume on to show her grandmother.
The little girl, who suffered horrific burns, is believed to have leaned over a gas fire when the bottom of her dress touched the flame and ignited instantly into a fireball.
Doctors at a specialist burns unit battled to save the critically injured youngster for nine days but she finally succumbed to her injuries this week.
Yesterday her devastated parents Neil Firth and partner Amy Harhoff were being comforted on what was their baby son George’s first birthday.
The family described Sophie as a “bright and beautiful” little girl who wanted to be a princess and said: “We will carry our little princess in our hearts forever.”
In 2009 Sophie spent three months in ITV’s Emmerdale as Angelica, the baby of Jimmy and Nicola King, played by Nick Miles and Nicola Wheeler.
But it was her upcoming role as an angel in the Christmas production at Cavendish Court Nursery in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, that she was most looking forward to.
Sophie was with her mother visiting grandmother Wendy in Skellow, Doncaster, to show off her nativity costume when the accident happened.
Distressed Amy, 28, desperately tried to save her daughter by smothering her in a blanket as they waited for paramedics to arrive.
Sophie was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital suffering 70 per cent burns before she was transferred to the specialist unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Doctors performed an emergency skin graft last Friday but Sophie developed a blood infection which led to her organs failing.
Father Neil, a project manager for Doncaster Council and Amy, a traffic planner for the same authority, were with her when she died.
Last night they were too distressed to talk but Sophie’s uncle Mick Harhoff, 31, paid tribute to his “beautiful” niece and said it was a loss the family would never get over.
He said: “She was such a lovely little girl and she was exceptionally bright. She always used to say that she wanted to be a princess.
“You do expect that one day you may have to bury your parents but you never expect to bury your child.
“The accident was totally unforeseen and out of the blue. Just a simple fire guard could have prevented this terrible accident.
“If people pay more attention to fire safety then maybe other families won’t have to suffer like ours.”
The telecommunications supervisor added: “She was so articulate for her age and would chat to anyone. She loved school and was so popular with her classmates.
“If you met Sophie you would remember her because she was so full of life and just lit up the room. She loved being the centre of attention. She was really looking forward to playing an angel in her nursery play next week and had been practising her Christmas songs for weeks.”
The family had been told the first 72 hours were critical following the December 2 accident and when Sophie got past that stage they believed she might pull through. But she deteriorated after the infection struck. An Emmerdale spokeswoman said: “We are devastated to hear of Sophie’s tragic death.
“Our sincere condolences go out to her family. Everyone at Emmerdale is thinking of them at this sad time.”
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