Jacob is a happy, passionate, 12-year-old boy who loves drawing, dancing and making TikToks. He was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in January 2022 and since then has undergone chemotherapy and surgery in his home city of Dublin.

Jacob and his family are sharing their experience to help raise awareness of childhood cancer during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and to encourage people to support Cancer Fund for Children whose mission is to ensure that no child or family has to face cancer alone.

It started on Saturday, January 8^th. Jacob went to the conservatory to get some of the toys he had gotten for Christmas and he lost his balance and fell. It was only a little fall so we didn’t think anything of it until about an hour later when we noticed his leg was swollen.

We let him rest for a little while but when the swelling didn’t go down we called the doctors and took him into hospital for an X – Ray.

We were then told he needed an MRI which he got on Wednesday and they kept him in. On Thursday they said he would need a CT and a biopsy, so I asked to speak to the doctor. I had only heard of biopsies for cancer, so I asked the doctor if that’s what they were looking for and he said yes.

 I was in bits

They told us he had osteosarcoma on Friday 14^th and it was a huge shock. It all happened so fast. We were expecting that the worst-case scenario would be a broken leg. Now looking back, we would have been delighted if it was just a break.

Jacob started chemotherapy which he went through for 10 weeks before having surgery on his leg. They removed the tumour, but they also had to remove most of his femur and his knee and replace them with steel. He’s been in a wheelchair since and is still learning to walk again.

Jacob is the youngest of 7 children. When we told his siblings about the cancer, they were all devastated

All of his brothers and sisters make a lot of effort to take care of him and spend time with him. We all spend a lot of time together and just feel lucky to have each other.

 Daisy Lodge is absolutely gorgeous

The scenery is lovely. People have told us that the photos you see don’t do it justice and they were right.

All 9 of us are going in September and I can’t wait. It will be so nice for us all to be together. I love the walks and hope we can explore the area.

 It’s a hard road but we try to stay as positive as we can

From the start, we always said that whatever we had to do to get Jacob through this, we would do it.

If I had one message to give to any family, it would be to try to be there for each other and support each other. If you can, try to make something good come out of it.

Jacob has made everything so much easier on everyone just by being his happy little self. He’s a wonderful boy who has kept us all strong. He’s one in a million.”

More than a month

We are so grateful to the family for sharing their story. If you would like to support children and young people like Jacob  during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, please purchase one of our charity wristbands here or donate here.

Together, let’s ensure children and families don’t have to face cancer alone.