Our Story
“Joshua was first diagnosed on 23 May 2017 aged just 8 years old. After having bouts of headaches we took him to hospital and they did a MRI scan on his head, neck and back. They found he had an optic pathway gliloma which is a benign brain tumour connected to his optical nerve and was causing Joshua to lose his eye sight. Joshua had his operation to have his port-a-cath fitted in his chest and chemotherapy started that same day – 4 June 2017. Joshua had four different types of chemotherapy for two years, ending in October 2019. Unfortunately this didn’t work and the tumour didn’t shrink which caused him to lose his eyesight.
Joshua still has to have MRI’s every year to check that the tumour isn’t growing and that it is stable. Sadly he won’t get his eyesight back as the damage is already done.
Throughout having chemo Joshua and our family were supported by Young Lives vs Cancer. Without them I don’t know what we would’ve done. Joshua has thrown himself into raising money for Young Lives vs Cancer and still does it to this day, he loves raising money for the charity as he knows what it does for other families.
Joshua is now 14 years old and is doing amazing. We are very proud of him and how he has dealt with sight loss at a young age.“ Kelly, Joshua’s Mum