Elite swimmer Archie Goodburn, 24, who vowed to keep fighting after being diagnosed with incurable brain cancer is given ‘new hope’ with breakthrough drug
A distorted Scottish swimmer, whose dreams of Olympic cannot be cursed by brain tumors, were given a ‘new hope’ thanks to a groundbreaking drug.
In 2019, 24 -year -old Archie Goodburn made a bronze bag for men’s 50 -meter frogs at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Hungary.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he had dreams of representing the Great Britain as a swimmer – but when he began to experience unexplained seizures, his hopes were screamed.
The young athlete missed a part of a second in the Olympic squad and made a special MRI screening.
And in May 2024, ‘the worst fear’ occurred when three major oligodentrogliomes were diagnosed – a rare widespread and progressive form of brain cancer – which does not work.
In his Instagram article at the time, Goodburn said to his followers: ‘Six weeks ago, my life suffered a deep change while diagnosing three brain tumors.
In December 2023, my education began to be interrupted by strange departments. Initially thought to be hemiplegic migraine, these attacks will occur during hard training.
“ They would leave me with a loss of power on my left side and a numb feeling, deep fear, nausea and excessive deja vu.
“ Now I know that these are actually seizures. In April, seizures, which led to 2024 Olympic trials, grew intensity and frequently, which is something I have aimed and educated for almost all my life. ‘
24 -year -old Archie Goodburn, previously in 2019 in Hungary 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships of men’s 50 -meter frog in the bronze lubricated (depicted in 2023)
Elite Scottish swimmer now has a ‘new hope’ thanks to the groundbreaking drug vorasi (depicted in 2019)
Initially, chemotherapy or radiotherapy was said to be the only option to slow down the progress of tumors.
But now a daily tablet can give him an alternative to the challenging side effects of traditional treatment.
Vorasidenib, the first treatment for this type of cancer for more than 20 years, was created by Servier, a French pharmaceutical company.
Since then, it has been approved by the UK’s drug observer and health regulation agency (MHRA) for use on British territory on Wednesday.
Essays showed that Vorasidenib has doubled the survival time between 11 and 28 months, and now he wants the swimmer to be present throughout NHS.
After it became suitable two months ago, the athlete takes it as part of a compassionate access scheme.
Now, Goodburn hopes to participate in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year to represent his country at a 50 -meter back.
The athlete who training 11 times a week is a graduate of chemical engineering by focusing on cancer drugs at Edinburgh University.
He said Times: “ I was told that my tumors were untreated and non -working. It was probably something to kill me, but they couldn’t do anything, ” Goodburn said.
‘Vorasidenib gave me the hope that I could compete in Commonwealth Games. It is impossible to look forward to it and I have a scan every three months to see if the tumor is growing.
‘The psychological stress of taking a bombing bomb in your brain is incredible. There is no second you don’t think about on your day. ‘
The drug will now be presented to the Health Guard of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) before it is distributed to NHS.
Goodburn announced his diagnosis in an Instagram article, but promised to continue to be ‘Archie’.
Vorasidenib is used as a treatment for brain cancer in many countries, including the USA.
The largest killer under the age of 40 is brain cancer, but the condition is less than one percent in research financing.
The Astro Brain Tumor Fund for the last MHRA approval for the drug, said it was ‘an important milestone for low -grade Glioma brain tumor’.
Servier UK General Manager Paula Valencia said: ‘To bring the first targeted treatment to England for more than 10 years, is an important step for people living with 2nd grade IDH-Mutant Glioma.
‘Reflect many years of research and cooperation and offer patients a new option to slow down the progression of the disease in the age of thirties and forties.
‘Access is a priority and we are determined to work closely with government and health authorities so that we can bring this new medicine to appropriate patients in the UK.’
