'Humans Of New York' Brings Attention To Kids With Cancer, Raises £260k In Three Days

What a beautiful thing to do.

The creator of 'Humans Of New York' is utilising his huge following for a very worthy cause.

Brandon Stanton is dedicating the next series of photo posts to children with cancer.

He hopes to tell the stories of young warriors battling the disease, in a bid to raise money for research because, as he puts it, "funding is scarce for pediatric cancer".

So far, in just four days, he has raised more than $380,000 (£260,000) - a number which he hopes to triple over the coming weeks.

'Humans of New York' is an online photography project telling the stories of New Yorkers. The Facebook page has risen in popularity over the years and now has more than 17 million followers.

Stanton, the man behind the page, has now utilised its wide reach for an amazing cause.

The photographer uploaded a picture of a young cancer patient with his parents and explained that over the next few weeks he'll be posting stories gathered from the Pediatrics Department of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

"Obviously these are not going to be easy stories to read," he wrote. "These are war stories. The treatment of cancer can be nearly as violent as the condition itself, and even the doctors will frame their efforts in terms of warfare.

"But the fight against pediatric cancer is uniquely tragic because the battlefield is the body of a child. So these are definitely war stories. But as with every war, there are heroes.

"You’ll meet the amazing doctors, nurses, and researchers who have committed their lives to this fight.

"You’ll meet the moms and dads who refuse to crumble while living out their greatest fear.

"And most importantly, you’ll meet the reason that everyone is fighting, and the greatest warriors of all—the kids."

He continued: "Yes, these are war stories. But this is also the story of humanity’s bold response to the greatest injustice of nature.

"And as we learn these stories, we’ll be raising money to play our own small part in the war."

According to the fundraising page, two thirds of the money will go towards pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the remaining third will be used to psychologically and socially support young cancer patients and their families.

Stanton wrote on the page: "Funding is scarce for pediatric cancer.

"Because cancer most often occurs in older populations, pharmaceutical companies are not incentivised to develop treatments for cancers that develop during childhood.

"Therefore, nearly all funding for the research of pediatric cancer comes from private donations."

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