Sitting in a hospital waiting room, facing the most terrifying news of his life, 21-year-old Joseph Richards picked up an apple and took a bite. What he saw on its skin stopped him in his tracks. Etched into the apple was what appeared to be a crucifix. For Joseph, a committed Christian who had spent over a year in agony before anyone thought to scan his leg, it felt like a sign. Forty minutes later, he was in tears. The cancer had not spread.
It was the moment of grace in a story that had been marked, until then, by frustration and missed chances. Joseph, a fit, active, a young man whose ambition was to join the Army’s Special Forces, had been hobbling for a year before he received his diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma. He had visited his GP, turned up at A&E, and seen a physiotherapist. He had been given painkillers, told he had growing pains, and at one point accused by a boss of ‘putting it on’. All the while, a tumour in his femur was pressing against his femoral nerve.
Joseph, from Worcester, was working at a restaurant when the pain in his leg became impossible to ignore. A year went by with no answers. Another trip to A&E eventually saw him lying on the floor in agony, and it was a medic there who finally told him to demand his GP refer him for a scan. It was that scan which led to his diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma in October last year.
Further scans and tests followed and Joseph faced a nervous eight-week wait to find out if the cancer had spread. There was the terrifying prospect that he could ultimately lose a leg or even die. It was during that wait, sitting with his father George in the hospital, that he picked up the apple.
‘Dad, I was in pain for over a year before I was diagnosed,’ he told George. ‘It will be a miracle if it has not spread.’ Then he bit into the apple and noticed the crucifix mark on its skin. Forty minutes later, he was in tears of happiness.
Joseph then began ‘brutal’ chemotherapy. Before it started, doctors read him a list of all the potential side-effects and he found himself overwhelmed. George said: ‘I had to take him for a walk outside the hospital.’
Now aged 22, he has had nine cycles of chemotherapy and is preparing for surgery this month that will include the removal of 25cm of his femur to be replaced with titanium. His father says Joseph’s Catholic faith helped him cope with his ordeal. ‘He is very resilient. You wonder “how the hell has he still got a smile on his face?”‘
George, 64, added: ‘It took over a year to give Joe an MRI scan. I was unimpressed with that, I’m angry, if I’m honest.’
Now Joseph’s family and friends are taking part in a four-day, 100-mile Trent-Severn hike for charity Sarcoma UK. It starts on 22 May at the stadium of Nottingham Forest, the football club the family supports, and ends at the British Camp Fort in the Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, which is Joseph’s favourite spot.
George will be among 20 walkers completing parts of the trek, and he will be joined by his other son, Thomas, who said: ‘Watching someone you care about go through treatment is heartbreaking, but it has also shown us just how strong he truly is. His courage, humour and determination inspire us every single day, and they’re the reason we want to do something positive in the middle of such a difficult time.’
Of the trek, Thomas said: ‘It will be a tough but meaningful journey, and every step we take is for my brother and everyone affected by sarcoma. Every donation, no matter the size, will help fund research into better treatments, provide support services for families like ours, and bring hope to everyone facing this disease.’
Sarcoma UK’s Research Manager, Emily Williams, said: ‘Joseph’s story will resonate with so many families affected by Ewing sarcoma. He is a young man with everything ahead of him, who spent over a year in pain before anyone found the answer. That delay, and the brutal treatment that followed, is exactly why the projects we have funded into Ewing sarcoma matter so much.
‘From Dr Fiona Errington-Mais’s work at the University of Leeds exploring a highly promising approach using oncolytic viruses – essentially viruses that can enter and destroy cancer cells while simultaneously alerting the immune system to attack – to other projects targeting the genes that drive the disease, we are funding researchers that are searching for the better, kinder treatments Joseph and others like him deserve. Joseph is 22 and facing surgery to replace part of his femur with titanium. No young person should have to go through that. Every pound raised by his incredible family on their 100-mile walk brings us closer to the future that the next Joseph deserves.’
To donate to the family, go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/sarcoma-hike-for-joe
