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This portrait series by photographer Geno Loro Jr. juxtaposes the bitter truth and beautiful frailty of lives touched by this little-known, little-understood form of childhood cancer. At first glance, the children portrayed are deceptively ordinary – they play dress-up, they laugh, and some gaze curiously into the camera.
But a closer look reveals an unexpected wisdom in the eyes of each – a wisdom that comes from seeing much, suffering much, during a life that’s barely started. A wisdom that is, at times, laced with sorrow, and at others, with hope. A wisdom that will leave you with no doubt that these children are unlike any you have seen before – yet so much like any child you’ve ever known.
“Life – Through the Eyes of a Child Living With Neuroblastoma” is part of an effort by the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF), along with Cook Children’s Medical Center and the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC), to raise public awareness of this dramatically overlooked disease. Throughout the years Cook Children’s has been the first choice for treatment of children with neuroblastoma in North Texas. With a highly specialized focus on this cancer, the neuroblastoma program at the Hematology and Oncology Clinic of Cook Children’s offers even more hope to children touched by this deadly disease, both in Fort Worth and around the globe.
Recently, with the appointment of W. Paul Bowman, M.D. as the department chair of pediatrics for the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, groundwork has been laid to bring cutting-edge neuroblastoma cancer research to the forefront. A Neuroblastoma Grand Rounds has already been planned and a neuroblastoma symposium is on the horizon. These newly forged relationships complete a trinity of patient support, clinical care, and research – which will only serve to hasten a cure.
We often say that art imitates life. As you will see from these stunning photographs, in this case art inspires life.
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