Champion swimmer with rare brain cancer urges UK to do more to help people with condition

Archie Goodburn, a 24-year-old champion swimmer who has a rare, inoperable form of brain cancer, is calling for the government to do more to help people with the condition. “I grew up representing my country, and I want to see my country supporting me back,” he said. Two years ago, Goodburn’s life changed. A few months before the Paris Olympics qualifiers, he started experiencing strange episodes during training, which grew in intensity: a loss of strength, numbness on his left flank, a deep feeling of fear and nausea. “I felt like my consciousness was being pulled away from me,” he said. In April 2024, he missed out on qualifying by a few tenths of a second, and soon after it was discovered that the cause was three oligodendrogliomas, rare tumours that make up about 3% of all brain cancer diagnoses. Vorasidenib, a breakthrough treatment, recently gave Goodburn a chance to compete again, this time at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month. It delayed the immediate prospect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which would have impaired his cognitive ability and interrupted his training, as well as his chemical engineering degree. But he says one new drug in 20 years is not enough. “Vorasidenib only bought me four years, according to the trials. I need more. …