4-year-old girl who became `true face of cancer` loses battle to the disease

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A few weeks ago, heart-wrenching photographs of a 4-year-old girl suffering from stage four neuroblastoma – a form of cancer – went viral after her father Andy Whelan shared the images on social media, to raise awareness about kids with cancer.

His daughter Jessica Whelan was diagnosed with the disease last year in September and was given just a weeks to live.

Andy posted photographs of his daughter visibly in pain, so that he could show the world the 'true face of cancer' and share the feeling of crippling fear of losing one's child to cancer.

(Image courtesy: Jessica Whelan - A fight against Neuroblastoma/Facebook)

The photographs got over 7,800 people talking within minutes of those pics being posted.

On Sunday, through a new post on his Facebook page – Jessica Whelan – A fight against Neuroblastoma – Whelan shared the heartbreaking news of Jessica's passing.

He wrote, “I feel both sadness and relief in informing you all that Jessica finally found peace at seven o’clock this morning. No longer does she suffer, no longer does she feel the pain of the physical constraints of her body.

Now my princess has grown her angel wings and has gone up to play with her friends and loved ones. She will now watch down over her little brother and ourselves until one day we are reunited again.”

As per The Guardian, Jessica’s family started a fundraising page on 7 October to raise money to help give Jessica “as much happiness and enjoyment as possible” in the short time she had left.

The page had raised more than £75,000 when it was closed earlier this month because of the little girl’s worsening condition. The family said the money would be donated to childhood cancer research.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is an aggressive type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It often starts from one of the adrenal glands, but can also develop in the neck, chest, abdomen, or spine.

The image of her grimacing in pain as she battled her terminal condition reduced many people to tears as soon as the photo was published.