Stan's Story

Out of nowhere, Stan – who was then 20 – had a seizure in January ’21. Within 24 hours he was told he had a mass on his brain, and that it was probably a Grade 2.

At the end of April he had awake brain surgery (a craniotomy), walked out of hospital the next day and – because by then we were all in lockdown – was told by video call in early May that in fact he had a Grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer.

At this point everything changed, mainly for Stan of course, but for his family too: his Mum Mandy, Dad Steve, sister Daisy, and for Georgia, who at this point had been his girlfriend for about 15 months.

This was also when Stan first met his amazing Teenage Cancer Trust nurse, Lucy, whose kindness, expertise and care helped Stan and the family through six weeks of radiotherapy, a year of chemotherapy and the fertility treatment which Stan and Georgia decided to have.

His employers, Wetherspoons devote their annual fundraising football tournament to Young Lives Vs Cancer, and Plymouth’s Union Rooms, where Stan was a team leader, turned out in shirts bearing his surname, Spendley (they won the tournament too!).

Stan’s year of chemotherapy ended several weeks before 10th September 2022, the day he and Georgia were married in a venue on Plymouth’s Barbican, a joyful occasion celebrated by over 100 family and friends.

Gradually, fatigue (a common symptom of his condition) meant Stan had to reduce his working hours (Wetherspoons were very understanding) and then leave altogether.

During this time his sister Daisy expended lots of time and energy raising thousands of pounds for The Brain Tumour Charity, and his old secondary school, Lipson Academy, raised over £1,000 in a one-off football event and auction.

There were plenty of other social events, too, involving his large and loving extended family as well as friends (including a 21st birthday party, and a surprise one the following year).

In December ‘23, Luca Stan John Spendley was born, and of course life ever since has changed completely. Stan spends a lot of his time and most of his energy looking after Luca, with lots of help and love from his family.

When he was diagnosed, he said he wanted to marry Georgia, become a Dad and enjoy good times with family and friends. All of this has happened and continues, and this weekend is part of that; he’ll be there with Luca and Georgia, as well as Mandy, Daisy, and her boyfriend Harry (like Stan, a Liverpool fan).

This break is part of Stan’s thinking about how he wanted to spend this time; we’re managing to turn those thoughts into reality, and we’re incredibly grateful to The Ben Saunders Foundation for helping us do that.