Jessica Whelan: Heartbreaking Photo Of Cancer-Stricken Girl Moves Thousands As Harry Styles Reaches Out
A photo of a 4-year-old girl from England named Jessica Whelan has gone viral this week, after her father posted a harrowing photo of his brave daughter in the throes of pain as she battles a deadly form of cancer.
The photo taken by Andy Whelan, a 30-year-old Lancashire electrician, is a stark black-and-white image of his daughter Jessica crying in pain, her face painted in agony as she lies in bed suffering from stage four neuroblastoma. On Saturday, October 29, Andy posted the photo on the Facebook page “Jessica Whelan – A Fight Against Neuroblastoma,” and in the five days since the image went up, it’s gotten more than 26,000 reactions from Facebook users all around the world. He says the photo represents the “true face of cancer” and the “truth and reality” of little Jessica’s situation as a childhood cancer patient.
“I could try and use a thousand words to describe this image that we as parents are confronted with on a daily basis but these words would fall short of truly depicting the sight we see. With this photo I do not mean to offend or upset, I do mean however to educate and shock those that see it in its context. Perhaps by seeing this photo people not in our position will be made aware of the darkness that is childhood cancer, perhaps these same people may be able to do something about it so that in the future no child has to suffer this pain, so that no parent has to bear witness to their own flesh and blood deteriorating daily.”
Harry got in contact with the family of Jessica Whelan, a young fan with neuroblastoma. He will be sending her a special video message! ? pic.twitter.com/4jUhwvAZsW
— harry pics (@thestylesfandom) November 2, 2016
According to the Telegraph, Jessica Whelan was first diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma on September 23, 2015, a condition that was originally diagnosed as a bone infection. After 10 weeks of suffering through arm and shoulder pain, Jessica was all set to be discharged from the hospital but was reexamined after suffering a severe stomachache. That was when doctors found a growth in her stomach and another mass around her liver. MRI tests revealed that the little girl had cancer, and Andy Whelan told the Telegraph about how difficult the news was for him to receive.
“The news felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest while someone sucked the air from my lungs,” he said. “I asked the doctor how long she had left, and he said he couldn’t give a figure but it was likely to be a couple of years.”
In the months that followed, Jessica Whelan underwent chemotherapy and was placed on a regimen of medication. Unfortunately, the tumor didn’t change in size in subsequent tests, and it was only recently when Andy Whelan and his partner Nicki Prendergast made the hard decision to stop their daughter’s treatment, so as to allow her to enjoy the remainder of her short life to the fullest. As of now, Jessica likely has “only a few weeks” to live, now that treatment has been stopped.
Thank you @Harry_Styles you made a precious little girl's dream come true ? #JessicaWhelan pic.twitter.com/8BDKDkvhXW
— The Famous Kind (@TheFamousKind) November 3, 2016
While the heartbreaking photo of Jessica Whelan has attracted widespread attention in the days since it was posted, one of the world’s hottest pop stars was notable for expressing his interest in making Jessica’s final days as memorable as possible. According to the Daily Mail, One Direction’s Harry Styles contacted the Whelan family after seeing the photo, and the singer’s management has arranged for him to set up a FaceTime or video recording for Jessica. This was confirmed in a separate post on the “Fight Against Neuroblastoma” Facebook page.
A GoFundMe page set up to support Jessica Whelan’s cause has raised almost thrice as much as its £20,000 funding goal, and interested donors can still visit the page to send in their pledges.
[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
