Jamie Brunt, 42, from Chesterfield, was diagnosed with glioblastoma after years of extreme tiredness were dismissed as diet-related issues. He suffered a seizure while driving in 2022 and, when scans revealed a brain tumour, he underwent surgery. After surgery, Jamie was given a prognosis of just seven months to live. He went on to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and his most recent scans have shown no signs of cancer. Now, having faced homelessness alongside treatment, Jamie is taking on the 10,000 Steps a Day challenge to support the launch of the new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Nottingham, focused on glioblastoma research.
Jamie tells his story…
At my age, you don’t expect something like this to happen. Looking back now, I think the symptoms started a lot earlier than I realised.
The first thing was the tiredness. I could not keep my eyes open. I would go to bed, have what I thought was a good night’s sleep, wake up, have a coffee and a cigarette, and then I would be asleep again within about 20 minutes. I had never experienced anything like it. It felt like I had a weight clipped to my eyelids and I physically could not stay awake.
This was around June or July 2020, during COVID. I spoke to my GP over the phone. I thought it might be low testosterone. They did blood tests and told me everything was fine. A dietitian from the doctors rang me and said it was probably my diet and that I should change it. After that, there was no follow-up. It was just forgotten about.
In 2022, everything changed.
I had driven from Chesterfield to Nottingham to pick up some patio furniture. I was a bit tired, but nothing unusual. On the way back, I had a seizure while driving on the motorway.
I remember passing Junction 28 and thinking I was nearly home. The next thing I knew, someone was opening my passenger door because I’d crashed.
I’d bitten my tongue and there was blood everywhere. The police were there and asked me to do a breathalyser, which was clear. They took me home and told my ex-partner that I needed to go to hospital.
I was taken to Chesterfield Royal Hospital, where doctors carried out CT scans because I had hit my head when the van went into the central reservation. At first, they thought it might be a bleed caused by the impact. Then they saw something else. People were running around, and it became clear it was serious.
I was referred to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and, later, sat face to face with a surgeon. He showed me the scans and told me they’d spotted a mass on my brain which needed operating. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all.
Not long after that, I underwent a craniotomy at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. The surgeons told me they had managed to remove all the tumour. Recovery was difficult and I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again.
When they confirmed it was glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, I was told I had around seven months to live.
One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was tell my teenage daughters, Millie and Rosie. Trying to explain to them that I was going to die was awful.
I hadn’t always been around as much as I should have been, and I was trying to rebuild those relationships while facing the idea that my time was limited.
To get more time, I had radiotherapy first because my liver wasn’t right for chemotherapy straight away. I had 30 sessions of radiotherapy in October and November 2023. After a break, I went on to chemotherapy tablets. I had six cycles, with seven days on and eleven days off, which finished around summer 2024.
I was very lucky with treatment as I didn’t experience sickness. I had fatigue and some thinning hair where the radiotherapy was targeted, but otherwise I coped well.
Outside of treatment, life became very difficult.
My relationship ended and I became homeless. I moved into my mum’s house and slept on the floor.
I lost most of my belongings and three of my five dogs which was devastating. The two I still have are what keep me going. I walk them every day, and they are my main support.
In November 2025, I had a scan that showed no signs of cancer cells. It is strange hearing good news when you have spent so long preparing yourself to die. I still prepare for the worst every time the phone rings but physically, I feel good. Emotionally, I have lost a bit of the fizz for life I used to have even though I know how lucky I am. Glioblastoma doesn’t usually give people this much time.
Before my scans came back clear, I had been looking into other options, including genetic treatments and personalised therapies abroad. I was researching places in Germany and anywhere else that might offer something different, because when you are told there is no cure, you look at everything.
That’s why I’m taking part in the 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge, to support the launch of a new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Nottingham which focuses on research into glioblastoma.
Knowing that this kind of research is being developed closer to home makes a difference. It feels good to know that work is happening nearby that could help people diagnosed with glioblastoma in the future.
I cannot give back in many ways, but I can walk. Supporting the Centre of Excellence is something practical I can do. If helping to raise awareness or support research makes things even slightly better for someone else, then it is worth doing.
Jamie Brunt
February 2026
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been inspired by Jamie’s story, you may like to make a donation via www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure.
