Recognition for brave Joe

A Mansfield boy who beat leukaemia has featured in a London art installation to help '˜make blood cancer visible'.
Joe, centre with parents Leanne and Billy, and siblings Finlay and Lexi.Joe, centre with parents Leanne and Billy, and siblings Finlay and Lexi.
Joe, centre with parents Leanne and Billy, and siblings Finlay and Lexi.

Joe Hogan, nine, was one of 104 people chosen from across the UK to tell their story in one of the busiest squares in London.

Joe was diagnosd with high risk acute lympbhoblastic leukaemia when he was two-years-old, and after more than three years of treatment Joe recovered in 2013 and has been cancer free since.

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Mum Leanne Hogan said several months prior to his diagnosis Joe had been feeling unwell. She said: “He was withdrawn, feverish and lethargic.

The art installation featuring his nameThe art installation featuring his name
The art installation featuring his name

“He seemed to get worse, his face matched the colour of his light blonde hair, he developed pain in his limbs and unexplained bruises and tiny blood spots all over his body.”

After first visiting the GP Leanne was told it was no more than a viral infection. As his symptoms worsened she became adamant it was more serious. On a second visit, the GP told her Joe had cancer.

She said: “We were shocked, speechless and just sobbed –never in a million years do you expect something like this to happen to your child.

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“Watching him fight cancer has changed our lives forever and taught us never to take anything for granted.

The art installation featuring his nameThe art installation featuring his name
The art installation featuring his name

“Joe’s strength, courage and resilience continue to amaze us.”

Leanne, who is also a patient ambassador for blood cancer charity Bloodwise, added: “The installation highlights the fact that blood cancer can affect any of us at any time, including children.

“Blood cancer needs to be more acknowledged and so raising awareness of this devastating disease is very important to us.”

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The installation in Paternoster Square, next to St Paul’s Cathedral, shows Joe’s name as a 3D construction, the exact height of Joe, with a summary of his blood cancer experience. Joe’s story stands alongside over a hundred other patients’ and was created by artist Paul Cocksedge through a commission from pharmaceutical company Janssen.

It marks the launch of a ‘Make Blood Cancer Visible’ campaign for Blood Cancer Awareness month, running throughout September.

Around 39,000 people are diagnosed with a type of blood cancer every year in the UK.

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