Council silences dead cancer boy's memorial bell
Scrooge-like neighbours force council to muffle memorial bell installed on Christmas attraction dedicated to boy, three, who tragically died of cancer after complaining it was too noisy
- Joseph Yeandle, three, died three days after Christmas from aggressive cancer
- The boy from Amman Valley, South Wales, was given a 50pc chance of survival
- A memorial bell for Joseph at a local Christmas attraction has been muffled
- A Neath Port Talbot spokesman said the council had received noise complaints
A family have said they feel ‘broken’ after a memorial bell on a local Christmas attraction was muffled to prevent children ringing it following a noise pollution complaint.
Three-year-old Joseph Yeandle died just days after Christmas last year after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
Joseph had been given a 50 per cent chance of survival after being diagnosed with stage four high-risk neuroblastoma. He was taken into intensive care on Christmas Eve after relapsing.
The bell is part of a ride at the Amman Valley Christmas Experience and is significant to the family as one of Joseph’s final experiences in the days before he was re-admitted to hospital was ringing the bell on the ride.
Three-year-old Joseph Yeandle, pictured with his mother Katy, died just days after Christmas last year after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer
When diagnosed, doctors gave Joseph a 50/50 chance of beating the disease. Children who go into remission following cancer treatment get the chance to ring a bell. Unfortunately, Joseph never got the opportunity
The family were hoping to hear Joseph ring an ‘end of treatment bell’ – a milestone for a child with cancer marking their return to normal life. Sadly, Joseph never got to ring the end of treatment bell. Joseph’s mother, Katy, said that finding out that the bell would have to stop ringing left her feeling broken.
Katy said: ‘It was one of the last things that Joseph ever got to do. When you have a child who has been diagnosed with cancer, the one thing you’re aiming for is them ringing that bell. He did get to ring a bell before he went into hospital when he relapsed. It wasn’t the bell that we wanted him to ring, but we had that video of him [ringing the bell on the ride].
The Amman Valley Christmas Experience has today closed its gates for the last time this Christmas season. We have so many mixed emotions about this incredible event, but mostly gratitude and hearts full of happy memories because Joseph adored it there and had the best time every time he visited. For that alone, we will be eternally grateful. We are so unbelievably thankful for the support and generosity that we have received from the community, wider public and the amazing volunteers who have worked so hard to support us. Margaret Studt, her team & the volunteers have become a family to us and along with our Joseph, have really brought the community of Brynamman together. To Margaret, you gave our family hope when we needed it most, laughter and memories to cherish and most importantly, you have helped us to build Joseph an incredible legacy that will live on. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so very much. With so much love, Joseph’s Family x
‘He was so happy and so excited, he didn’t stop ringing that bell all the way around. All year, knowing that bell was coming back to the fairground meant a lot. The first day of it coming back just hit me, seeing it again and knowing that was part of Joseph.’
Katy said that finding out the bell had to stop ringing ‘really broke’ her as she found out a year to the day that Joseph relapsed. ‘It was just all those emotions coming back again,’ she said.
‘You can see in his face the joy and the excitement and just how much fun he was having on that ride,’ Joseph’s aunt, Emma, said of a video of Joseph on the ride just weeks before his death. ‘As a family, we have watched that video over and over over the last year because it is such a beautiful video.’
Emma said that the family were ‘overjoyed’ that the ride would be returning to the Amman Valley Christmas Experience this year. ‘It’s such a special ride for us because it meant so much to him and we got to see him so happy on that.
‘It was the only bell he ever got to ring and we so desperately hoped he would ring that bell on the cancer ward in remission but he never got to ring that bell. It’s become extremely significant to us as a family that he did have a bell to ring.’
Joseph, pictured at the Amman Valley Christmas Experience, relapsed on Christmas Eve last year and died a few days later
The family often fundraises at the Amman Valley Christmas Experience for their charity, Joseph’s Smile, and say that the owners are aware of the significance of the bell to the family. The video of Joseph ringing the bell on the ride is also on the Brynamman Fairground website and there is a link to fundraise for the charity on the Amman Valley Christmas Experience website.
‘The owners haven’t silenced it. They are just as upset as us. They have complied because they’re trying to ensure that they please the residents. They don’t want any animosity at all,’ Emma said. The family found out that the bell had been silenced following a noise complaint on Wednesday, December 14 while Emma was with Joseph’s mum, Katy.
‘My heart broke again into a million pieces to see my sister run off sobbing when she found out that that bell had been silenced,’ Emma said. ‘She is such a tough woman. She’s so strong and she manages to hold it together in public but she couldn’t hold it together for this. It was so upsetting and we are so deeply saddened that this bell on this train has had to be silenced.’
Emma added: ‘The last thing we want is any animosity between the fairground and residents. We just want everybody to be happy and enjoy the event and hear that bell ring. Of course, I understand if people who are living close by struggle with the noise of the event, but the event does close by 8pm.’
The event is open from 4pm-8pm mid-week and from 12pm-8pm on the weekend. ‘We just want everybody to be happy and, as a family, that’s something we feel quite strongly about. But we want to hear Joseph’s bell of course.’
Organisers of the event said they were ordered to muffle the bell by the local council following noise complaints
However, the family have praised the efforts of their community following their announcement that the bell had had to be muffled. A ‘Ring a bell for Joseph’ event has even been set up on Christmas Eve at 12pm at the Amman Valley Christmas Experience – a day particularly significant for the family as it marks a year since Joseph was taken into intensive care.
‘There has been an outpouring of love from our community,’ Emma said, mentioning the hundreds of comments they have received since announcing that the bell had been muffled. ‘As a family, I cannot begin to tell you what that means,’ she said of the event that has been set up.
‘The community are coming out for us again, just as they did when Joseph was alive and they were trying to fundraise for him,’ Emma said. ‘Something really positive I feel has come from our community coming together again. We’re so grateful.’
Ian Fowler, business manager for Amman Valley Christmas Experience, said that the bell on the ride – which he said has become known as Joseph’s bell – had been muffled after Neath Port Talbot council had directed the site to address the issue with noise. The bell has now been muffled to prevent children on the ride from ringing it.
He added that the site has tried to rectify issues where complaints have been made by residents, including re-directing lighting at the site, to try to work in harmony with residents. ‘One of the complaints from the residents was that the bell was too loud and we have had to muffle it.’
Ian added that the bell was given in remembrance of Joseph and that, when the ride moves on to another fairground, the bell will be put in his garden of remembrance where they have since planted a tree.
A Neath Port Talbot spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that a number of noise complaints associated with the site are under investigation by officers of Neath Port Talbot Environmental Health. Under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) it is the duty of the local authority where the complainant is located, to investigate the noise complaint.
‘We are currently working with the event organiser, in what is clearly a sensitive situation, in an effort to resolve matters amicably, therefore it would be inappropriate to make detailed comments regarding an ongoing investigation.’
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