Dad of two dies after brain tumour symptoms ‘misdiagnosed as depression’
A man was diagnosed with a serious brain tumour at the age of 48, before passing away.
James Acaster was a lifelong football Sheffield Wednesday fan, and he started noticing things were going sideways with his health when he started forgetting the names of footballers that played for the The Owls.
He also found it harder to keep up with conversations, though these symptoms were not linked to cancer after several visits to his GP.
Instead, the dad-of-two was told that he had depression, but he knew this wasn't the case.
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But as James struggled to remember words and his conditioned worsened, sister Donna Sayle, a nurse, told him to go to A&E.
An MRI scan in April 2023 revealed that he had a highly aggressive brain tumour called glioblastoma.
The Brit then had a surgery in May that year, which removed 95 percent of the mass, while also undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Unfortunately, he was faced with harsh side effects like liver and kidney issues, and just 17 months after his diagnosis, the father died.
Jamie, from Derbyshire, died on 1 September 2024, following a fatal blood clot in his lungs.
Donna recalled: “Jamie was a massive Sheffield Wednesday fan, but he started forgetting the names of players he’d known all his life.
"Even the really well-known ones wouldn’t come to him.”
The funeral featured a blue and white theme, Sheffield Wednesday's traditional colours, with attendees also encouraged to wear their own Owls kits.
"It was a sea of Sheffield Wednesday tops. That’s how much the club meant to him," Donna added.
Speaking about her late brother's depression diagnosis, she said that 'Jamie knew he wasn't' and that after getting the MRI, 'they'd found a shadow' on the scan.
When Jamie was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, he was given a prognosis of just 12 to 18 months, though treatment caused swelling in his liver and kidney due to the steroids he was taking, which was among the 50 medications he had to take everyday.
He would also develop pulmonary embolism, which gave him less treatment options.
"Every time we thought we were past one hurdle, another one appeared," Donna recalled.
She explained: "His body reacted badly to nearly everything - the medications, the chemotherapy, even the steroids.
"But despite it all, his personality never left him. He was still cracking jokes in his final days."
Jamie was survived by his wife, also named Donna, 50, daughter Ava, 15, and son Harry, 12.
Donna described her brother as someone who 'had a way of bringing people together' and 'loved socialising', while he enjoyed coaching his son's football team.
In memory of Jamie, Donna organised 'A Jaunt for Jamie' back in March this year - a 14-mile fundraising walk held on his birthday.
It began at his childhood home in Sheffield and ended at his final home in Eckington.
10 people came alone, which included friends, family, and some of Donna's colleagues, while Jamie's parents and sister joined for the last kilometre.
In total, nearly £2,000 was raised for Brain Tumour Research, as Donna said that it was 'the only thing I could do for him'.
She highlighted: "Only one per cent of national cancer research spending goes to brain tumours, and that is not good enough."
Donna called for awareness and an increase in funding to help the thousands of others who are currently suffering with tumours.
"Jamie's entire journey felt like we were hitting a brick wall. Every treatment we tried failed. I walked to mark his birthday, but also to fight back against that frustration. I felt like he was with us the whole way,” she stated.
Joshua Nair