Driving ambition keeps James living life to full
‘EVERY DAY A BONUS’ FOR 21-YEAR-OLD WITH TUMOUR
A BRAVE 21-year-old from Nottinghamshire says “every day is a bonus” as he continues to live his life to the full despite having a terminal brain tumour.
It has been little over a year since James King was given the devastating news on August 24, 2020 - but that did not stop him from “enjoying every moment of his life” ever since.
Doctors at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital gave him the prognosis, with a life expectancy between 12 and 18 months, Mr King recalls.
Mr King, from Worksop, added: “About a month before I was having the worst headaches on the planet, I was being sick like out of nowhere.
“I was sick all that time before and I thought that I would never get cancer. I was shocked.”
Mr King was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and he underwent surgery to reduce the tumour on August 27.
While the operation went well, he later suffered a bleed on the brain, which left him paralysed down the right side of his body.
He had to have a second emergency operation to fix the bleed and he has since regained sensation and movement on his right side.
He was told his treatment would involve a cycle of chemotherapy and radiotherapy before another cycle of chemotherapy.
Mr King added: “I am not undergoing any treatment at the moment, they monitor it every three months.
“But if it comes back, I will just start more chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”
While the young man said he has stopped projecting his dreams into the future and he now takes “every day as it comes”, there is one aspect of his life that he would like to have it back.
“I lost my driving licence because of it and that is one thing that I really miss in my life,” he added.
“I always loved driving - and now I know that I took my driving licence for granted big time.”
At the moment, Mr King is planning to restart his year at college in Doncaster after finishing his apprenticeship.
He added: “I am just a normal person who happens to have cancer.
“It did not affect the relationship with my parents, it only made it stronger.
“It must be difficult for them but they have never told me - they keep it between them.”
“And it did not affect my relationship with my girlfriend either - we have been together for about three months and she knew from the beginning.”
Talking about how his perspective on life has changed, he added: “I think that people think too much about what is going to happen in the future when they do not actually know was going to happen tomorrow.
“I do not have a problem with that, but I just learned to take every day as it comes.
“Every day is a bonus.” While he said that he almost ticked off all his wishes on his bucket list, there are still a few left. He added: “I have done most of the things I wanted to do in my life.
“My friend Nigel set up a fundraising page which raised over £20,000 - and that was for myself to do what I wanted.
“He took me to a track and he hired a truck for one day and we drove cars - I just love cars.
“If all goes well, next November I could get my driving licence back.
“I am taking each day as it comes, but that is one thing that I am really excited for.”
Mr King added: “When I get my driving licence back, I want an Audi RS 3 and first place I am going to is Germany to the biggest racetrack in the world.
“And then after that I would fly to Ireland to the Guinness factory.”
While his life could end “at any time”, Mr King said he is determined to live every moment of it in full.
He added: “If I had one piece of advice that would be do not take life for granted. Keep it short and simple.”