{"id":568197,"date":"2026-03-29T07:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/568197\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T07:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:42:10","slug":"i-was-diagnosed-with-incurable-brain-cancer-on-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/568197\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer on holiday’"},"content":{"rendered":"

One minute Joanna James was relaxing on a sun lounger, enjoying a holiday with her partner to celebrate her 50th birthday – and the next, she was unable to speak, being cared for in hospital and diagnosed with incurable brain cancer.<\/p>\n

After extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy back home in Yorkshire, there was nothing more the NHS could do and she was given just 12-18 months to live.<\/p>\n

That was in September, but six months later she is beginning immunotherapy treatment in Germany which it is hoped will extend her life – and her family and friends are helping her fundraise to cover the \u00a3100,000 cost.<\/p>\n

Joanna, from Ilkley, has raised almost \u00a338,000 through an online fundraiser and her brother Sam is training to run the length of the 190-mile (305.7km) Coast to Coast path to raise even more.<\/p>\n

Joanna was on holiday in Greece with her partner Mark Whittington, also 50, when she was suddenly unable to speak.<\/p>\n

Writing about her experience on her own fundraising page, she said: “Mark reacted immediately and I was rushed to hospital. Within 24 hours, our world fell apart.”<\/p>\n

“A diagnosis like this doesn’t just shake your world; it shatters it. One day you are planning the future, and the next you are being told your prognosis is 12\u201318 months,” Joanna said.<\/p>\n

She was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma – but is hoping specialist treatment in Cologne could buy her more time, and preserve her quality of life.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joanna underwent awake brain surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy [Joanna James]<\/p>\n

“Since that day, I have undergone awake brain surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

“I have faced each stage with determination and strength because I am not ready to stop fighting for my life,” she added.<\/p>\n

Joanna has now begun immunotherapy treatment at Immun-Onkologisches Zentrum K\u00f6ln (IOZK), a clinic in Cologne.<\/p>\n

The treatment is not a cure, but could exend her life – however including travel and medical costs, the full cost is estimated at about \u00a3100,000.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam Bagshaw, 39, will run the 190-mile Coast to Coast path from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire in three days and hopes to raise \u00a33,000 [Sam Bagshaw]<\/p>\n

Her youngest brother Sam, who also lives in Ilkley, said there was nothing he could do about the diagnoses – but he could run 300km to raise some money to help.<\/p>\n

The father-of-three will start his challenge on 24 April, carrying his own kit across the path which takes in three national parks – the Lake District, The Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors – with his wife Lauren as his support crew.<\/p>\n

He explained: “I’ve been doing loads of running for quite a while now and Joanna has always been going on at me to do stuff for charity, but I’ve never wanted that added pressure. But then I thought, I might as well put it to some good.<\/p>\n

“I started raising money for the brain tumour charity, but then we found out about the immunotherapy treatment in Cologne, so are now raising money for that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joanna and Sam share a close bond [Sam Bagshaw]<\/p>\n

He said they planned to hire a camper van they could sleep in between his 100km each day. But as the cost is proving too high, he is considering now running the challenge in just two days.<\/p>\n

Sam has some experience in ultra running, having previously run a 100km race in he Brecon Beacons. He hopes this time he will be joined by friends for sections of the route.<\/p>\n

“I’m setting off on my own but I’ve got a few friends who like running and they said they might join along the way.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to have a tracker so they can see where I am and then join as I go,” he said.<\/p>\n

As for the training, Sam has been running 100km a week for the last five weeks – equivalent to more than 11 hours plus strength training.<\/p>\n

He hopes a positive attitude – just like the one Joanna is keeping throughout her treatment – will help him through the challenge.<\/p>\n

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds<\/a>, catch up with the latest episode of Look North<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More stories like thisRelated Internet Links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One minute Joanna James was relaxing on a sun lounger, enjoying a holiday with her partner to celebrate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[214441,218706,49,48,28867,196009,218704,218707,202002,218705,61,57060],"class_list":["post-568197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-brain-surgery","tag-brother-sam","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chemotherapy","tag-immunotherapy-treatment","tag-joanna-james","tag-mark-whittington","tag-radiotherapy","tag-sam-bagshaw","tag-technology","tag-yorkshire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}