Jessica (Jessie) Whitmore, who lived in Swanley in Kent in southeast England, was beautiful, caring, and had a wicked sense of humor. The moment she walked into a room you knew she was there. She had time for everyone, young and old.

We met in nursery school when we were age 3 and grew up together attending the same schools until we turned 16. 

At the age of 16, a week before her GCSE school exams, Jessie was diagnosed with leukaemia. She started taking oral medication, and her doctor arranged for her to have IVF so her eggs could be saved as there was a chance she could be affected by chemotherapy.

Jessie bravely went through her treatment without seeking sympathy or undue attention. She did her very best to have as normal a life as she could, despite her illness.

After a while, it became obvious, unfortunately, that the oral medication wasn’t working. Jessie was advised that she would at some point need to have a bone marrow transplant and intravenous chemotherapy. Jessie chose to have the transplant as soon as she could and she started helping her medical team find a matching donor.

Finally, a match was found. On the June day in 2005 when Jessie was admitted to King’s College Hospital, London, her aunt Debbie gave her a notebook and suggested to Jessie that she keep a diary as Jessie was going to be in hospital for about six weeks.

That book, ‘Jessie’s Diary’, is what Jessie wrote. The bone marrow transplant went well but the side effects of the chemotherapy that accompanied it were unfortunately too much for Jessie, and this led to her death.

Jessie Whitmore was born on 30 June 1988 and died on 6 September 2005 at the age of seventeen. She is often in my dreams as if she is still here, out and about where we grew up and she's living a great life. Although we weren't really close I think about her often and it makes me sad she's not here, she was taken from this earth too soon!

Leukaemia Care is a national charity dedicated to ensuring that anyone affected by blood cancer receives the right information, advice, and support and this help was essential for Jessie and her family to have throughout this time. 

Around 34,000 people are affected by blood cancer each year in the UK and Leukaemia Care is here to support them through their diagnosis, treatment, and beyond.