NFL star Joshua Hines-Allen reveals his seven-year-old son has been battling cancer

Jacksonville Jaguars star Joshua Hines-Allen has revealed his seven-year-old son Wesley is nearly cancer free after battling leukemia for the past seven months.

Hines-Allen, who did not travel to Indianapolis for the Jaguars' 2024 season finale in January due to personal reasons at the time, made the emotional announcement on social media along with his wife Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn recalled the initial concern they had when Wesley began bleeding from his tooth after a weekend at Disneyland.

'I was just hugging him 'cause he was crying and he started bleeding even more in the gums, then he started to catch a fever,' she explained.

Joshua continued: 'It just didn't get better, and the bleeding was consistent every day.'

The couple, who also have another son and daughter together, were then forced to take Wesley to hospital when his symptoms showed no signs of slowing down. 

'I was just leaving practice,' Hines-Allen remembered. 'Kate called me [saying], "Hey, we're going to the hospital. I need you to go home and pack a bag for Wes." Not thinking anything of it, really.

'He wasn't feeling good at all still, so he's like cuddling up and we're waiting in the lobby to go back there. We finally get in the back, and then later that night [they] came back, pulled us out and they told us that he had leukemia.

'It just kind of like hit me, and nothing else mattered after that.'

Doctors informed Joshua and Kaitlyn that Wesley's journey was going to be a long one, explaining how he will need to undergo regular testing for the next 21 years of his life aside from chemotherapy.

Fortunately, Wesley has responded well to the treatment and is now nearing a full recovery, Kaitlyn revealed. He is set to undergo his final chemotherapy treatment in late August at Nemours Children's Health in Jacksonville.

'Wesley is doing great,' she said. 'He's swimming every day, he's running around, he's playing sports.'

'He's got back to being the big brother he is,' Joshua added.

Along with the video and the encouraging update on Wesley's progress, Hines-Allen also announced that his foundation, Four One For All, is conducting a season-long campaign called Four One For Hope that aims to give back to four cancer-focused nonprofits throughout the 2025 campaign.

'We recently received the good news that Wesley is on his way to a full recovery,' he said in a separate statement, via ESPN. 'We are grateful to the dedicated team of doctors, nurses, and caretakers who contributed to our son's well-being and counseled us through this time.

'Our goal is to ensure that families going through something similar feel the same level of love and support as we did.'

Hines-Allen is now gearing up for his seventh season with the Jaguars after being selected by the team with the seventh overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.