Jack’s Story

Jack is 24 and just about to complete his Masters degree and move into the next phase of adult life. He started feeling unwell before Christmas 2021. After a series of investigations he was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour in May 2022. As the tumour was pressing on his brain stem there was no other option but to operate. This came with significant risks.

His first operation in June was very complicated due to the position of the tumour, making it difficult to remove. After 9 hours in theatre the surgeons had managed to remove some of the tumour, but there were complications creating heavy bleeding and swelling in his brain.

Jack was moved to intensive care where he has since had 7 emergency procedures to try to reduce the swelling and fight infections in his brain. Jack remains in Intensive Care at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, under the amazing care of staff there. His recovery is slow and complicated – sometimes with two steps forward and another back. But we remain hopeful that with time, physiotherapy, the support of the amazing medical team, and the love of his friends and family he will be able to enjoy his life again in the future. Jack’s incredible mum Lottie has been by his side since his diagnosis.

We are walking for Jack on Saturday 17th September in Nottingham, Northampton, Daventry, Devon, Hunstanton, Leicester, Brighton, The Netherlands, USA, Canada and even the Dominican Republic! You can donate and join us on a walk, set up your own walk (on or as close to 17 September as possible) or simply donate. Every mile each person walks will contribute to our target of 500 miles.

About Jack

Jack is 24 years old and lives with his friends Derry and Erin in Leicester. Derry and Jack met in nursery and have been best friends ever since. Jack is studying part time for a Masters degree in History at Leicester University and works as a cook in a Portuguese café, which is just as well as he loves cooking and eating – especially Mediterranean, middle eastern and spicy food but all vegetarian please!

Jack comes from a large family, with three brothers (Charlie, Mylo and Shay) three sisters (Merry, Rishika, Shria) and many cousins. Another special person in Jack’s life is his boyfriend Jacob, who shares his love of horror films, walking, food and furry animals – when Jacob's dogs Hunter and Willow first met Jack they took a shine to him immediately. Jack has had some important feline friends over the years too including Ian and Jet. Another passion of Jack's is music, especially the Delta Blues but his tastes range far wider from Khruangbin and Pink Sweats to Woody Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Mobb Deep, Dr Dre, Nujabes and the Belorussian band Molchat Doma (to name but a few). He is also a maestro on the guitar - if you have seen and heard him play count yourself lucky!

Born and bred in Northampton, Jack has a special affection for the Midlands and keeps a close eye on the success (or otherwise) of the Cobblers football team. He enjoys European travel too, and has visited Germany, Belgium, Spain, Slovenia and The Netherlands, where he loved seeing another of his favourite football teams, the mighty Ajax.