The British swimmer Archie Goodburnof 23 yearsmade a revelation that moved the world of sport: he said that has three inoperable brain tumors. He received the diagnosis a little over a month ago, after having participated in the Great Britain Olympic team trials, where he barely qualified for the event in Paris.
The young man reported the situation on his Instagram account. “Six weeks ago my life experienced a profound change when I was diagnosed with three brain tumors,” he revealed and explained the symptoms that he had suffered for months before being diagnosed: “In December 2023, My training began to be interrupted by strange episodesThese episodes, initially thought of as hemiplegic migrainesoccurred during intense training. They left me with a loss of strength and a feeling of numbness on my left side, a deep sense of fear, nausea and extreme déjà vu.“.
Later, it was discovered that these symptoms They were actually seizures. Over time, the intensity and frequency of these exercises increased. Nevertheless, Goodburn decided to continue with the firm objective of reaching the Olympics. “It was something I had been looking for and had trained for almost my entire life. I was determined to achieve my dreams, so I decided to go for it.” I kept training”, he continued. Thus, he competed in the qualifying tests, held in April. There he finished third in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:00.03) and He was a few tenths of a second away from obtaining one of the two Olympic places at stake.
After that, he underwent medical tests and the diagnosis came: “Once the tests were over, I delved into what was really causing these attacks. An MRI in May finally revealed what I had begun to fear most.”
“My brain is what makes me who I am, it is where my personality comes from, where I store my memories and what allows me to feel emotions. To be honest, along with the fear of missing out, what terrifies me most is the very nature of what a brain tumor really is and the vital part of my being it threatens. “I like who I am and I don’t want that to change me.”he said.
And then he expanded on his condition: “The surgical biopsy has defined the tumors as Oligodendroglioma, an extremely rare form of incurable diffuse and progressive brain cancer. My tumors are large and unfortunately considered inoperablethe ideal first treatment for this tumor.”
In turn, in the text he noted that “the positive side is that oligodendrogliomas generally respond better to radiotherapy and chemotherapy than many other types of serious brain tumors. “They are often slow growing and these tumors are likely years old.”
“My tumors express a mutation of my IDH1 gene that is shared with some forms of leukemia. IDH inhibitor medications, a new class of drug, have seen phenomenal advances in recent years with quite surprising results.“Continued progress in this field will greatly help my prognosis,” he added hopefully.
Throughout his young career, Goodburn stood out at the 2019 Junior World Championships, where he won a bronze medal in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke, and at the 2023 European Short Course Championships, where he won a silver in the 4× relay. 50 styles. She also represented Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Now he has a new challenge ahead of him: “I’m young, I’m fit, I have phenomenal support from my friends, the best family I could ask for and a fantastic girlfriend by my side. I am determined to face this, stay positive and continue being Archie”.
In that sense, he said that he was motivated by reading stories from Rob Bichan, another athlete who was diagnosed with the same thing, and he told his followers on social media: “I will share part of my journey here in the hope of being as successful as him.” and with the goal of inspiring just one person at some point the way he has done for me.”
