THE FAMILY of a 12-year-old boy from Evesham who has spent the last three years of his life being treated for cancer are overjoyed that he has finally finished his treatment.
Josh Asbury, who was diagnosed with T cell lymphoma in September 2021, rang the end-of-treatment bell at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital on Tuesday (April 1), surrounded by family, friends and medical staff who had treated him.
Josh, who goes to Blackminster Middle School, has taken up table tennis, so some of the children’s clinic staff dressed up in table tennis gear and gave him a quick match to celebrate. He also got to take home a tasty personalised end-of-treatment cake.
His grandmother Karen Jinks told the Observer that the family was “ridiculously emotional” that he had finally finished three years of intense treatment, and it was going to be a “new start”. “He’s going to be a normal boy again, it’s going to be weird,” she said.
Unusually, Josh was first diagnosed with this rare form of cancer following his recovery from Covid. He was rushed into hospital with a collapsed lung, and after investigation, medics made the shock diagnosis.
Since then, he has had daily chemotherapy and been regularly treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Worcestershire Royal and at one point had to learn to walk again.
To mark the momentous milestone, Josh, along with family and friends, is looking forward to a big ‘knees up’ this Saturday (April 12) at Wood Norton Hotel.
Asked how they had coped with the diagnosis, Karen said: “We are a close family and this has made us closer. We do everything together and have made lots of experiences.”
“It’s changed our outlook. We live life very differently now.”
She said the family had received “amazing” support from the Grace Kelly Cancer Childhood Trust, and the local community support had been “incredible”.
Josh, an animal lover, is now looking forward to a summer to Thailand and Australia to see his favourite critters with his parents, Andy and Heather and his six-year-old brother, thanks to the generosity of well-wishers.
