This Poignant Back To School Picture Is Breaking The Internet’s Heart
Mum Julie Apicella shared this heartbreaking side by side picture to raise awareness of childhood cancer [Photo: Facebook/Julie Apicella]
For the past week or so it’s likely your social media feed has been awash with pictures of children posing proudly in their oversized uniforms. But one back-to-school picture shared by a mother came with a heartbreaking message.
Julie Apicella from Norfolk took to Facebook to share a photo of her little girl, Emily, in her uniform last year, and another shot this year revealing an empty space.
“School photo time - obviously someone very special missing - my daughter Emily,” she wrote in the accompanying message. “Imagine if your school photo this year is the LAST you will ever be able to take and will just be a memory.”
Explaining that she had chosen to share the photo not to upset people but instead to raise awareness of childhood cancer, Julie went on to add:
“Nearly everyone on my list has children or family members and this could be your reality in the future. One in 285 children will get a cancer diagnoses. Raising awareness of symptoms and that childhood cancer is not rare is the first hurdle to jump.”
Julie asked others to add the gold ribbon to their profile picture [Photo: Facebook/Julie Apicella]
Julie goes on to ask people to change their profile pictures to show a gold ribbon - the international symbol of childhood cancer - in the hope of raising even more awareness.
Since posting the poignant message has been shared more than 8.5K times and prompted many parents to comment on the post offering their support and sharing how emotional it had made them.
“Great evocative post but, so sad. Everyone should go gold for your gorgeous girl,” one woman wrote.
“This brought tears to my eyes. It’s reality and that sucks. Life can change very quickly for some off us and too much gets taken for granted,” another added.
“I moan about my kids all the time but I often think of people like you Julie who would do anything to have Emily here and beings little madam. That’s what stops me and makes me realise how lucky I am that they are here and healthy ish! It’s one of those things we all think will never happen to us.”
Emily passed away at home in December last year after a battle with a Wilms Tumour, which is a type of kidney cancer. Around 40 children in the UK are diagnosed with this type of cancer each year, while almost 4,000 children and young people in total are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK. That’s ten every day.
September is Child Cancer Awareness Month, so let’s help Julie with her quest to raise awareness, not only for her beautiful daughter, but for all the other children bravely battling the condition right now.
For more information on child cancers including symptoms to look out for visit www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk
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