- Email: [email protected]
Different faces. Same fight: Project 3.8
Cancer and Society
Art Different faces. Same fight: Project 3.8
www.thelancet.com/oncology Vol 18 March 2017
turn aim to raise further funds. Online, the Project 3.8 website provides layers of information. Writer Tabitha Lord tells the story behind each portrait, beautifully describing every child’s individual personality, hopes, and struggles. “All of these children, as sick as they are, they’re still just children,” says Robyn 11-year-old Maddie was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt’s (non-Hodgkin) lymphoma: she’s currently in remission. Sebastian, who is now 6 years old, was diagnosed with high-risk T-cell leukemia when he was 4 years old. Dylan had his last chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma just before his 17th birthday. Unheard voices underpin the story of adopted siblings: Angel, a 5-year-old boy diagnosed at birth with neuroblastoma, and 2-year-old Violet, diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma at 14 months. Both were fostered by a family of seven who became known as foster parents for medically needy children. The older children were always consulted in the decision of taking on a foster child, and, as one of them said, “We have so much experience, how can we not use it?” Because the children were in the foster system, their names could not be mentioned in the support they received, and no photos could be posted until they become part of a new family. As Tabitha Lord writes in her interview, “Christine [their foster mother] remembers feeling that Violet wasn’t getting credit for her fight…she worries that [other children in foster care] are being denied the powerful support system offered by the cancer community”. Because of Project 3.8, Angel and Violet can be the faces for those unnamed children. The strength in the project lies in its approach to think globally, act locally. Everyone involved, from writing, to photography, to web design, and all
of its portrait subjects, are Rhode Islanders. Proceeds go towards local initiatives, and the children thus far in the exhibition were all treated at Hasbro Children’s Hospital (Providence, RI, USA). According to the Project 3.8 website, about 150 families receive treatment at Hasbro Children’s Hospital each year. Last year, Rhode Island declared Jan 20, D-Strong Day. The network of support and information is particularly lively on Facebook, with the Dorian J Murray foundation page, where thousands of messages of support, and stories of gratitude, experience, and acts of kindness are posted. This network offers a particular haven for those children, friends, or families who are new to the world of paediatric cancer. If the project could persist sustainably within Rhode Island, it might spark locally initiated sister projects in other states, and be a string of lights in the ever-darkening burden of American healthcare. Community support is of increasing importance, and Project 3.8 is a clear, strong example.
Project 3.8: different faces. same fight www.3point8.org
Kelley Swain
Robyn Ivy
8-year-old Dorian Murray became the iconic face of paediatric cancer in 2016, when photographer Robyn Ivy’s portrait of him—elfin, bald-headed from chemotherapy, sporting boxing gloves and an expression of utter determination—made world news. Dorian was diagnosed with advanced stage rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of paediatric cancer, when he was 4 years old. Dorian’s wish to become famous in China came true when the hashtag #dstrong went viral across the internet—thousands of people from across the globe, especially at the Great Wall of China, sent photos, good wishes, and donations to the Dorian J Murray Foundation, established by Dorian’s mother, Melissa Murray, to raise funds for paediatric cancer research. In the family’s hometown of Westerly, Rhode Island, USA, more than 2500 people spelled out #d-strong and a heart on Misquamicut beach. Since Dorian’s death in March 2016, Melissa and Robyn have been working together on Project 3.8. “More than fifteen thousand children are diagnosed with cancer each year in the USA”, explains Robyn, yet “all paediatric cancers combined only receive 3·8% of all national cancer funding”. Project 3.8 is a photography exhib ition: twenty portraits of Rhode Island children who are also cancer patients, feisty and smiling, in boxing gloves. The powerful black-and-white photographs capture the personality, vibrancy, and spirit of each child. By replacing impersonal statistics with individual narratives, making a difference feels absolutely possible. The Project 3.8 Exhibition opened in September 2016, coinciding with childhood cancer awareness month. The project is ongoing: proceeds towards the show dually support local paediatric cancer initiatives, and the continuation of exhibitions, which in
295
Art Different faces. Same fight: Project 3.8
www.thelancet.com/oncology Vol 18 March 2017
turn aim to raise further funds. Online, the Project 3.8 website provides layers of information. Writer Tabitha Lord tells the story behind each portrait, beautifully describing every child’s individual personality, hopes, and struggles. “All of these children, as sick as they are, they’re still just children,” says Robyn 11-year-old Maddie was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt’s (non-Hodgkin) lymphoma: she’s currently in remission. Sebastian, who is now 6 years old, was diagnosed with high-risk T-cell leukemia when he was 4 years old. Dylan had his last chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma just before his 17th birthday. Unheard voices underpin the story of adopted siblings: Angel, a 5-year-old boy diagnosed at birth with neuroblastoma, and 2-year-old Violet, diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma at 14 months. Both were fostered by a family of seven who became known as foster parents for medically needy children. The older children were always consulted in the decision of taking on a foster child, and, as one of them said, “We have so much experience, how can we not use it?” Because the children were in the foster system, their names could not be mentioned in the support they received, and no photos could be posted until they become part of a new family. As Tabitha Lord writes in her interview, “Christine [their foster mother] remembers feeling that Violet wasn’t getting credit for her fight…she worries that [other children in foster care] are being denied the powerful support system offered by the cancer community”. Because of Project 3.8, Angel and Violet can be the faces for those unnamed children. The strength in the project lies in its approach to think globally, act locally. Everyone involved, from writing, to photography, to web design, and all
of its portrait subjects, are Rhode Islanders. Proceeds go towards local initiatives, and the children thus far in the exhibition were all treated at Hasbro Children’s Hospital (Providence, RI, USA). According to the Project 3.8 website, about 150 families receive treatment at Hasbro Children’s Hospital each year. Last year, Rhode Island declared Jan 20, D-Strong Day. The network of support and information is particularly lively on Facebook, with the Dorian J Murray foundation page, where thousands of messages of support, and stories of gratitude, experience, and acts of kindness are posted. This network offers a particular haven for those children, friends, or families who are new to the world of paediatric cancer. If the project could persist sustainably within Rhode Island, it might spark locally initiated sister projects in other states, and be a string of lights in the ever-darkening burden of American healthcare. Community support is of increasing importance, and Project 3.8 is a clear, strong example.
Project 3.8: different faces. same fight www.3point8.org
Kelley Swain
Robyn Ivy
8-year-old Dorian Murray became the iconic face of paediatric cancer in 2016, when photographer Robyn Ivy’s portrait of him—elfin, bald-headed from chemotherapy, sporting boxing gloves and an expression of utter determination—made world news. Dorian was diagnosed with advanced stage rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of paediatric cancer, when he was 4 years old. Dorian’s wish to become famous in China came true when the hashtag #dstrong went viral across the internet—thousands of people from across the globe, especially at the Great Wall of China, sent photos, good wishes, and donations to the Dorian J Murray Foundation, established by Dorian’s mother, Melissa Murray, to raise funds for paediatric cancer research. In the family’s hometown of Westerly, Rhode Island, USA, more than 2500 people spelled out #d-strong and a heart on Misquamicut beach. Since Dorian’s death in March 2016, Melissa and Robyn have been working together on Project 3.8. “More than fifteen thousand children are diagnosed with cancer each year in the USA”, explains Robyn, yet “all paediatric cancers combined only receive 3·8% of all national cancer funding”. Project 3.8 is a photography exhib ition: twenty portraits of Rhode Island children who are also cancer patients, feisty and smiling, in boxing gloves. The powerful black-and-white photographs capture the personality, vibrancy, and spirit of each child. By replacing impersonal statistics with individual narratives, making a difference feels absolutely possible. The Project 3.8 Exhibition opened in September 2016, coinciding with childhood cancer awareness month. The project is ongoing: proceeds towards the show dually support local paediatric cancer initiatives, and the continuation of exhibitions, which in
295