We were living in Thailand. Josie was bright young & positive, she had a head on her shoulders – and at 14 she was a real sportswoman. She swam butterfly for her school winning medals internationally. The last person in the world you would expect to become so ill.

In August 2004 Josie started to feel exhausted. We suspected she was anaemic and took her to hospital for a blood test, The result was immediate and devastating. We were told she had Acute Myloid Leukaemia.

She was immediately started on chemotherapy but after 6 weeks it was apparent that she had a difficult type and would need a Bone Marrow Transplant. We were advised to return to England and continue treatment near family.

Josie was given her first transplant at the Royal Marsden in Sutton in February 2005 from an unrelated donor. We moved up to Northumberland and continued Josie's treatment at the RVI in Newcastle. However by July she had relapsed and needed a second Transplant.

Soon after we discovered that Jacqui was pregnant, a test revealed that the baby was a perfect match, our hopes were raised and we planned to use the stem cells from the babies' umbilical cord. Charlie was born on Josie's Birthday by which time Josie was already on Chemotherapy again & preparing for her 2nd transplant. However after testing the umbilical cord collection it was apparent that there were nowhere near enough stem cells for Josie. So again we had to use a second unrelated Donor and Josie underwent another transplant in May 2006.

At first things were looking good and Josie seemed to be doing well but by August she had relapsed again.

Our consultant told us we could carry on treatment - but the chance of a cure was really remote. Chemotherapy might buy time but would keep her in hospital. Josie held us together: she said "What a kerfuffle", and told us "Don't worry, it's ok".

It was her decision to stop treatment. She said "I'm not afraid of dying. I'd rather spend quality time with my family." She was just so strong. We kept expecting her to crack – but she never did.

One day, we were driving along the road and she insisted we stop the car, take off our shoes and run around barefoot in the long grass. She was so positive about life on earth, such an inspiration.

We were told she only had weeks and did not expect her to still be with us by Christmas, but she was so full of life, she just kept going, amazing us all.

Over time her hair grew back, and she blossomed into this beautiful 16 year old young woman – who knew exactly what was going to happen, but wasn't scared.

Josie was nominated by her nurses for a brave heart award and a photographer came from the Journal to take her picture. He took lots of photos of her in her Ball Chair which she chose as her prize. The one the Journal used came out particularly well because Josie had started mucking about, just being herself. The next day it was a huge picture on the front of the journal with the head line:

Amazing, vibrant and funny….the teenager who has stopped fighting cancer to enjoy the rest of her life

The picture seemed to shock a lot of people. Here was a young girl who had everything going for her, she was clearly happy, yet she knew she was going to die.
 By early the following morning we were overwhelmed by reporters from National papers, magazines and TV. The phone rang off the hook.

Initially Josie didn't want to say anything  but realizing the potential to raise awareness of Leukaemia and the possibility of fund raising she agreed to talk to the TV for Look North and later to give one interview for The Mail on Sunday who shared the story with The Sunday Mirror.

The response was incredible. It was just before Christmas and we were flooded with cards from well wishers, donations to Josie’s' Leukaemia fund and several people gave Josie some money to spend on herself.
She had a wonderful Christmas.

Josie got a lot of pleasure from giving £3,000 worth of hobbies &crafts, DVDs, CDs, pictures and equipment for the Teenage Cancer Unit at the RVI and just days before she died a very poorly but very proud Josie personally presented a cheque for £10,000 to the Children's Cancer research department at the RVI Newcastle.

Josie also had the idea of selling a silver Dragonfly pendant to raise funds to help Children whose treatment was no longer curative. The inspiration for the dragonfly pendant came from a fable that helped Josie and her siblings understand about dying - The Dragonfly tale.

The Dragonfly also represents Strength, Courage and Happiness, which sums up the way Josie got herself, and us, through her treatment.

On the Friday before Josie Died the first Dragonfly samples arrived. One in Silver and one in Gold with a small diamond in the dragonfly’s heart. She was thrilled with them and delighted in showing friends & visitors.

Josie passed away the following Monday. She wore the gold Dragonfly and the Silver one was given to Libby, her sister.

There are now thousands of Josie’s dragonflies all over the world

Josie’s positive attitude and the graceful acceptance of her illness has touched and inspired many people and as her parents, we are exceptionally proud of her. We would like to give our thanks to everyone who has donated to the fund and the many people who have walked this difficult path along side us.

Cliff & Jacqui Grove