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Around September 2015, four-year-old Jessica Whelan was experiencing pains in her arms and shoulders, so her parents – Andy Whelan and Nicki Prendergast – took her to the doctor to get checked out.
Jessica’s doctor diagnosed the young girl with a bone infection and decided to keep her in the hospital as she recovered.
After ten weeks of staying in the hospital, Jessica was deemed fit to leave – until nurses raised concerns about her cries of pain last night as she slept.
“One of the nurses told the doctor so he decided to check her tummy to make sure it was nothing more than constipation,” Andy recalled. “It was devastating. Jessica was all ready to come home. She was even in her coat. Then we were told she'd need to stay in hospital for more tests.”
The doctor had discovered a mass in Jessica’s stomach and wanted to keep her in the hospital to reassess the situation.
After running an ultrasound, and an MRI the following day, the doctors broke the news: Jessica had a cancerous mass growing around her liver.
On September 23, 2015, four-year-old Jessica Whelan was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that begins when a child is in a mother’s womb.
The doctors warned Jessica’s parents that he wasn’t sure how long Jessica had to live – “it was likely to be a couple years.”
Immediately after the diagnosis, Jessica began chemotherapy treatment and gradually cut her hair until she shaved it completely.
After three months of treatment, there was no improvement. A hospital consultant, however, told the Whelan family that there was an alternative trial treatment, and “not to lose hope.”
On the trial treatment, Jessica seemed to improve as the months passed. Her hair grew back in, and she had more energy overall. The hospital let her stay at home more regularly – rather than stay in the ward all the time – and Jessica’s parents learned to administer their daughter’s drugs themselves, to spend more time with her in the comfort of their home.
But as energetic as Jessica seemed on the outside, the tumor inside her body was still not retreating. Doctors had her undergo targeted radiation therapy, in hopes of getting rid of the tumor, but it was to no avail.
Just a month later, Jessica’s doctors had to tell her parents that the tumors hadn’t grown, but new tumors were growing and spreading in other areas of her body.
The family could choose to either continue treatment and try to prolong Jessica’s life – or stop treatment and let her enjoy what time she had left.
Andy and Nicki opted for the latter – which is when the former posted this photo to Facebook.
Andy had no idea the photo would gain so much traction and go viral. He and Nicki are overwhelmed by the responses they’ve been receiving, and by popular request, have opened a GoFundMe page for anyone who wants to donate money to support Jessica.
We hope the family will have the chance to enjoy many happy, good memories together.
