It is with great sadness that we just heard that 13 year old Joe Ellis has passed away.
Following a heartfelt plea from Joe’s father, the Isle of Wight rallied round raising more then £55,000 in a fortnight, when it was discovered that pioneering cancer treatment could help save the teenager’s life.
Southampton Hospital agreed to fund the first three treatments, but £100,000 was needed to fund the ten further treatments should a funding bid to the UK Government not be successful.
A huge number of events were swiftly organised from coffee mornings, to egging policemen outside the Isle of Wight festival, live music events, sponsored walks, swims and rowing. The whole Island seemed to be touched by Joe’s story and pulled together.
The following message was posted to the Fundraising page on Facebook a short while ago:
It is with a very heavy heart I post this today.
Some days life deals a body blow that can seem impossible to recover from. Today is that day.
Today we learned that we lost our very precious Joe Ellis. His enjoyment of life was immense and his fight for that life simply astonishing.
As you would now expect his family have a huge void that will never be filled. The family have been overwhelmed by the support shown to them throughout their fight. Right now it is important that we don’t overwhelm them with any natural urge to respond to this heartbreaking news by contacting them direct. They ask that all expressions of sympathy come through one of us or even better, put your feelings or experiences on the Facebook page; we will ensure that any other messages are passed on.
Throughout the fundraising for Joe’s medication we have used social media to help our cause under the banner of #joesjourney. The family would like that cause to continue in Joe’s memory. We had a mission to raise the £100,000 for the medication he so vitally needed & we want to continue that mission. This would be a wonderful legacy for a family of another small child; who find themselves in the unenviable position that the Ellis family found themselves in, when this journey started.
As well as the police family, members of our Island community (especially the children) and beyond have been passionate about helping raise money. Joe’s passing will affect all of us differently, as this sad news hits home & whilst we can never fill the void, it is our hope that the sense of grief and helplessness will have a positive outlet, in the form of the #joesjourney project & provide a focal point for everyone involved. So despite this sad news we press on, because that is what Joe and his family want from us.
News, updates, events details and more are available on Facebook and Twitter as well as our website (details below). Please visit these and encourage others to do so in order that we raise the profile of our cause and complete #joesjourney.
Thank you all so much for your efforts so far and in anticipation of that effort continuing.
Mark Tim Jayne
Messages of sympathy can be left here or over on the Joe’s Journey Facebook page
