Play on pause: the impact of childhood cancer
When cancer hits, childhood suffers.
And with cases of childhood cancer rising by 11% since the early 2000s*, more childhoods are being affected in the UK than ever before.
Our three life-sized sculptures of children at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Pleasure Garden Play Areas represent the hundreds of children across the country currently having cancer treatment. Children whose childhoods are essentially on pause.
Created using replica chemotherapy wires, the sculptures highlight how everyday family moments – like going to the park – can be stolen by a child’s diagnosis.
-
Each sculpture includes motion-triggered audio technology, meaning visitors will hear families' stories and thoughts first-hand. This includes GOSH patient Frank and his mum, Emily.
-
GOSH patient Yumna visiting the installation; her story is also shared through the sculptures.
-
-
Artist Andy Goff at work.
Frank’s story
Children under five now make up nearly half of all new childhood cancer diagnoses in the UK.*
For these young children, toddlers and infants, a diagnosis hits during their formative years – replacing the simple joys of early play and first milestones with the clinical reality of life-changing treatment.
This was the case for three-year-old Frank. For him, the "pause" button was hit just as he was beginning to explore the world.
A Cars obsessed toddler who was happiest crawling with a toy in each hand, Frank’s life changed in 2024 when he had a seizure, which led to the discovery of a brain tumour. After an 11-hour surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and subsequent proton beam therapy (an advanced and precise form of radiotherapy), Frank is now in remission, but the moments he missed have left a lasting mark.
Frank with his mum Emily
“We didn't take him to the park for so long because we were worried about infections, and at the age when he should have been playing in the garden, picking up things he shouldn't be... he wasn't able to do that,” his mum, Emily, says.
Frank regularly returns to GOSH with further surgery planned in the future.
GOSH’s dedicated Play team, funded by GOSH Charity, continue to support Frank and his family. "They were there to make our lives easier and Frank's childhood happier,” Emily says.
Join us in helping to save childhoods
We know that cancer is stealing childhoods. But together, we can help stop it and give seriously ill children, like Frank, the best chance possible.
With your help, we’re building a new, world-leading Children’s Cancer Centre to give children with cancer the best chance and the best childhood possible.
With cutting-edge facilities and an environment where pioneering research can thrive, the centre will offer children far more than a hospital. It’ll be a school, a garden, a home-from-home a playground and so much more.
Join our team of doctors, nurses, builders, Play specialists, researchers, physiotherapists, teachers and many, many more to help us build it and help beat cancer for more children.
Please note, the sculptures will remain at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Pleasure Garden Play Areas until 6pm on Thursday 19 March 2026.