Jessica Whelan, the little girl whose father shared photos of her struggle with cancer online has passed away.
“I told her it was OK to close her eyes and go to sleep”
Photo from: facebook.com / Jessica Whelan – A fight against Neuroblastoma
After showing the world the true face of child cancer, Jessica Whelan has found her peace. The news was shared by her mother on the Facebook page that they created to raise awareness for childhood cancer as well as to share their story with the world.
Jessica’s father writes, “Last night she finally allowed me to hold her in my arms and we had a big cuddle as I told her how much I loved her. I told her again that it was okay for her to close her eyes and go to sleep and I kissed her forehead and her lips numerous times.”
While Jessica’s death was expected ever since the doctors diagnosed her cancer as terminal, it’s nevertheless heartbreaking to see a child so young die to such a debilitating disease like cancer.
“I’m sorry you had to suffer the way you did”
Jessica’s father felt devastated after her passing. He shares, “She was a daddy’s girl from the start and even right up to the end. I feel like a massive part of me has just been torn away but I am so glad that I could give her that comfort in her final hours.”
Mr. Whelan was also responsible for sharing the heartbreaking photo of her daughter’s struggle with cancer. An act which he was criticized for doing, but he said that he wanted to show the world that cancer isn’t always the smiling faces that you see online, and that her daughter’s photo whilst she was in pain was the true face of cancer.
In another post, Mr. Whelan shares his pain: “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from this evil world baby girl, I’m sorry you had to suffer the way you did. It breaks me to think about what you have had to endure for a quarter of your short life and it will be a cause of my nightmares for me for years to come.”
Go to the next page to learn more about childhood cancer.
What makes childhood cancer so dangerous?
Cancer in general is caused by cells in the body that start growing out of control. In adults, cancer is mostly caused by lifestyle or environmental factors. For children however, cancer is very different as they are often due to DNA changes that occur very early in life; in some cases these changes happen even before birth.
That’s why childhood cancer is dangerous, since it happens very early in life and the treatment can sometimes cause various side effects that plague the patient, even if he or she survives treatment.
That is also the exact reason why awareness about childhood cancer is very important. Since childhood cancer simply suddenly shows up, treatment is very important. Researchers and doctors are constantly looking for ways of treating childhood cancer that don’t have side effects that can affect a child’s quality of life.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, bbc.com, cancer.org
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