Team GB swimmer Archie Goodburn broke down in tears live on BBC Breakfast as he urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to invest more money and resources into brain cancer research.
The Scot, 25, was diagnosed with a rare inoperable cancer just over two years ago after doctors found a number of oligodendrogliomas on his brain. The disease is terminal and he may not live to see his 40s, but that has not stopped Goodburn from pursuing his dreams as a Team GB swimmer.
Emotional appeal on live TV
Alongside passionately raising awareness of the disease, Goodburn competed in the 50m breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games last week, finishing seventh in the final. He was labelled an inspiration by his fellow competitors and appeared on BBC Breakfast just days later.
On Tuesday, he discussed the new Rare Cancers Bill and sent a tear-jerking message to new PM Burnham, issuing a plea for further investment in improving cancer treatment in the UK.
Direct plea to the Prime Minister
Goodburn began to tear up and shake as he asked which camera was live, before looking down the lens and sending a direct appeal to Downing Street to help ease the "unbearable" suffering of brain cancer patients and their families.
He said: "So Andy Burnham, if you believe and you want to make a change and a difference to the future of our country and our young population, please listen to us. Please establish a national brain cancer lead and give us a chance to fight for our lives because honestly, the things that patients are going through out there is just unbelievable and so unjust."
"There are clinical trials around the world, in the US, in Australia, in China, that could change lives, and we are not seeing them in the UK, and it is unfair and unjust. So please, please invest and make the difference because I’m on my knees begging for not just my own life but those of my best friends and those who are affected and the families all around the country."
Rare Cancers Bill criticised
"This has to change. It’s been going on for too long and the suffering is unbearable. I’m sorry. The Rare Cancers Bill is not going to be enough. It is a step in the right direction, but it is not going to cover, it’s not going to make the changes we need."
Recent years have seen experimental treatments emerge with the ability to save lives. Most notably in Goodburn’s case was Vorasidenib, a breakthrough treatment that allowed him to delay the prospect of chemotherapy and keep his dreams of competing in the pool alive.
Goodburn had begun by saying: "What’s frustrating, and we welcome the Rare Cancers Bill, but that Rare Cancers Bill we truly do not believe is going to be enough to make the changes."
The Rare Cancers Bill covers 14 different types of cancers, rare cancers. Brain cancer is one of these in terms of incidents of diagnosis, but it’s not the same in terms of the number of deaths it causes. It is extremely deadly.
"Yes, it’s rare, but it’s extremely deadly. This frustrates me immensely. And the Rare Cancers Bill establishes two new positions, a clinical lead and a research lead. These two roles are part-time across 14 different types of cancers, and they accumulate to 36 days a year."
"Those two roles to cover 14 different types of cancers to try and change the landscape of treatment. I do not see how 36 days a year is going to make that change for 14 different types of cancers, let alone the most deadly type of cancer."
