Young father's brain tumour mistaken for appendicitis

Joshua visited hospital more than five times before receiving his terminal brain cancer diagnosis, as Rags Martell reports.

Joshua Warner visited Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, five times - and even had his appendix unnecessarily removed - before eventually receiving his brain tumour diagnosis.

The 25-year-old carpenter and father-of-one has been told he has an aggressive form of brain cancer - either a glioblastoma or a diffuse midline glioma.

The average prognosis for these types of cancer is around eight to 11 months from diagnosis.

Joshua, as a dad to four-year-old Andrew, has been preparing for not being around to see his son grow up.

"What broke my heart the most is filling out 17 years worth of birthday cards so my boy's got a birthday card up to the age of 21. Because I don't know how much time I've got," he said.

Joshua's mum, Eve Pateman, said: "He's been having multiple seizures every day. [The biopsy] has finally gone ahead...so we're all keeping our fingers crossed for answers.

"Getting it done was critical because it will allow us to see what treatment options there are for him."

Joshua first realised something was wrong earlier this year, on June 26, when he began suffering from a severe headache. More than two weeks later, his dad, Dave, took him to Darent Valley Hospital where, despite having no stomach pain, he was told he had appendicitis.

His appendix was removed on July 13. With his sickness and headaches persisting, he was readmitted to hospital the following day but the tumour was still not picked up.

It's not until August 18, after being admitted to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Greenwich, following a collapse at his grandparents' house, that Joshua's brain tumour was finally diagnosed.

"We know he's going to die from this, but we want to give him every single chance," Eve said.

Joshua's mum wants to make sure other patients don't have the same experience of misdiagnosis as him.

"It's really important that we get out there, anyone showing consistent headache with nausea, anyone presenting at hospital with those symptoms should be taken really seriously."

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: "Joshua's story is, sadly, not unique. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer."

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, which runs Darent Valley Hospital, said: "We are very sorry to learn of Mr. Warner's diagnosis and his experience whilst under the care of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.

"It is important to us that all patients receive the highest quality of care; we take all concerns very seriously and so we are in the process of examining this case in greater detail.

"We have spoken to Mr. Warner directly to gain a better understanding of his perspective, and we are fully committed to taking any and all necessary actions to address his concerns."

A funding page has been set up to care for Josh's family.

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