Sophie Allen had recently finished treatment for stage 2 breast cancer after being diagnosed in October 2020 at the age of 26. She was enjoying being past the ordeal. She was also engaged to the love of her life. Then a hit and run driver changed all that.
Allen, who had since turned 27, was visiting a friend in Chicago in August, less than two months after her final treatment. They were enjoying spending time together and sightseeing. On August 14, the adventure took them to Wrigley Field, where they snapped a picture together.
Not too long after, they were walking through a nearby intersection when a BMW SUV plowed into them. The driver and passenger fled on foot. Allen’s friend, Nahiomy Alvarez, suffered a concussion. Allen’s head injuries were more severe, and she died at the scene.
Alvarez says, “A car lost control and turned right into us and somehow by some miracle I’m here and Sophie is not.”
Alvarez was one of many people in Allen’s circle who loved being around her.
Her obituary says, “Sophie has always been an incredible person: joyful, dynamic, smart, accomplished, outrageously ambitious, and caring just begin to describe her. She was fiercely passionate about everything: friends, family, puppy dogs, soccer, Duke, travel, food, reading, spin cycling, surfing… the list goes on and on. Sophie never met a stranger, and she fully lived every single second of her amazing life with unbelievable energy and joy.”
She managed to keep this drive during her battle with breast cancer. Her treatment included six cycles of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and reconstruction, lymph node removal, and five weeks of daily radiation therapy. Throughout all this, she managed to work and continue to walk her beloved rescue dog Ollie three times each day. Ollie was there with her as she wrapped up treatment.
Her obituary says, “On June 24, 2021, after running with Ollie, Sophie completed her last aggressive treatment and had 51 days of pure joy, cancer- and aggressive-treatment free, before the tragedy.”
Part of that pure joy was planning a wedding to her fiancé Andrew Pollizzi, who she met while they both attended Duke University in 2016. She had moved down to Florida last year to be with him while he attended the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. Their wedding date had been set for September 23, 2023.
Allen also leaves behind her grandfathers, her parents, a brother, and a sister.
A week and a half after the car crash, there were still no suspects in custody. Alvarez pleaded with the driver to come forward so Allen’s loved ones could find closure.