In the face of pain and suffering, it is natural to retreat to what we know best, to fight against the injustice of the world in the best way we know how. For one photographer, his daughter’s daily struggle with cancer has become the focus of his life.
In response, he has turned his lens to his family’s ongoing battle, and recently shared this tragic image of his 4-year-old daughter, Jessica, who has been suffering from neuroblastoma for more than a year.
Andy Whelan, from Lancashire in the UK, has been posting images of his daughter Jessica on a Facebook page dedicated to chronicling her journey through this horrific disease. “Before her diagnosis I was one of those ignorant to the darkness of childhood cancer, not truly appreciating the hell that it brings,” he says. “It would never happen to us! Now I give childhood cancer the respect it deserves, seeing too many children suffering this same fate and watching families torn apart. ”
“This is the hardest photograph I have ever made. ”
His aim is to raise awareness and funding for cancer research, with the goal of preventing other families from suffering in the same way. “This is the hardest photograph I have ever made,” says Whelan. “A few days ago she was given what is most likely only a few weeks to live after a battle against cancer that has been waged for over twelve months. This photograph was made in a moment that we as parents could offer her no comfort, her pushing us away whilst she rode out this searing pain in solitude. ”
Embedded Javascript
The image has rallied people together on Facebook, having been shared over 13,000 times in just a few days. There has been an outpouring of support and solidarity from commenters, many of whom have shared their own personal struggles and offered their sympathies to the Whelan family.
“If this photograph only serves as a purpose to make people think twice about this evil and put into perspective what it does to a child then it has achieved its purpose. Research needs to be done, cures need to be found, too long now has this been allowed to happen,” says Whelan. “It is too late for my daughter, but childhood cancer needs to be cured. No family should have to go through this hell. ”
In response to the outpouring of goodwill online, Whelan has opened a gofundme campaign to raise funds to improve the final weeks of Jessica’s life. You can donate to the campaign here.
. digitalrev.com2016-11-4 03:00