Josh's Story

The journey is written by Abi, Josh’s wife, he was only 20 🙏

During our first year of University, Josh was diagnosed with a grade 4 wild type diffuse midline glioma on his brain stem. His only symptom, a lazy eye that came on extremely quickly, but he was an avid gamer so he wasn't overly concerned. I asked him repeatedly to get it checked out, and thankfully he listened to me.

Previously he hasn't had very good experiences with doctors so he was hesitant to go. His opticians appointment very quickly turned into a GP appointment, which resulted in him being send straight to A&E for 2 days of straight testing.

Nothing came up after all the tests and scans so we assumed he was in the clear. About a month or so later he was booked in for an MRI which in true Josh fashion he tried to dodge. Again as the nagging girlfriend (at the time) I made sure he booked the appointment.

A short time later he received a phone call about something on his brain stem which was pushing against one of the nerves in his eye causing the lazy eye. As a teenager typically would he didn't get much more information and told me and his family there was something on his brain and that was it🤣.

After his mum made a call we realised just how serious this was, and on that day in June our lives instantly flipped upside down. From that day it was doctors appointments, hospital visits, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Every appointment we didn't know what to expect.

Initially we were told the prognosis wasn't good, but we weren't given a timeline. I remember that being one of the only appointments that I just couldn't hold myself together.

Despite the unknown, Josh proposed to me and it was the easiest decision for me to say yes. In August 2024 we got married surrounded by all our loved ones. It was truly the best day.

In February 2025, the fight because too much and we lost Josh 💔 18 long hard months he fought for, and hardly ever complained about just how hard it was.

Josh showed me what it was like to be truly loved. He was such a funny soul, always making everyone laugh even if he'd had a bad appointment. He was so polite, always thanking his doctors despite the outcome of the visit. "Thank you, have a nice day" after every single appointment.
It has been an absolute pleasure to love Josh and to be loved by him, but also to continue living for him, and doing the things he couldn't.

Thank you so much Ben Saunders for giving the opportunity to go on a much needed break 💜💜