‘You’re going to search the ends of the earth’: Why families travel abroad for brain cancer treatment
In the hospital corridor, Jasmine got ready for yet another round of blood tests – and she couldn’t help but cry.
“She’s never liked needles,” her father, Anthony Freeman, explained, “but since her diagnosis it’s been non-stop, and she’s just terrified of injections now.”
Jasmine Freeman was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February
But blood tests are only the start of Jasmine’s day.
Over the following few hours we watch as the seven-year-old girl is pushed in a wheelchair to a series of exams: an ECG, a 45-minute scan in the MRI machine, as well as mobility and brain function tests by her doctors.
All are designed to closely monitor her health, and keep an eye on the growth of the midline glioma – a malignant tumour – in her brain.
But, while the tests themselves seem pretty routine, they’re not happening at an NHS hospital near her home in Bracknell, but at the Princes Maxima children’s hospital in Utrecht, Netherlands, where Jasmine is enrolled on an experimental drugs trial for her rare and incurable cancer.
She was diagnosed in February, and the prognosis was devastating.
Anthony said: “The doctor just told us straight that 90% of kids die within the first nine months of diagnosis. We just sat there – and we didn’t know what to do.”
Jasmine with her father Anthony Freeman
To make an unbearable situation even worse, they soon realised that treatment options for Jasmine’s condition on the NHS are extremely limited.
“The only thing the NHS offered was radiotherapy, that was it,” said Anthony.
“If she showed any signs of getting worse within six months they couldn’t do anything else. We were just supposed to let nature take its course.
“No parent is just going to sit there and say, ‘Ok well we’ll just get on with it then.’
“You’re going to search the ends of the earth for treatments.”
The first thing doctors told Anthony when he enquired about rolling Jasmine on the treatment was that this wouldn’t cure her.
Oncologist Dr Jasper van der Lugt says the treatment is a big burden with zero guarantees.
Some patients see benefits for a long time, others none at all: “But it’s good to have hope. And at a minimum we learn from it.”
Why families look abroad
In the UK, clinical trials or alternative treatments are exceptionally hard to come by, so like many families, they began looking abroad.
Families, charities and MPs have all lamented the lack of clinical trials and brain tumour research in the UK.
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, but just 1.3% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease since records began in 2002.
A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Brain Tumours this year found a number of issues, from too much red tape, no up-to-date database to collate the trials on offer, and crucially not enough money going into brain cancer research.
Five years ago, the government announced £40m of funding for brain cancer research, but just £11.3m of this has been spent.
For families looking for alternative treatment abroad, the treatments can be prohibitively expensive.
Thanks to the generosity of friends and strangers alike, Jasmine’s campaign has fundraised nearly a quarter of a million pounds. But others may not be so lucky.
Then, there is the pain of traveling abroad.
‘Extra stress’
Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson was 33 year olds old when five years ago he was diagnosed with a grade-three astrocytoma – another type of aggressive brain tumour.
He was only offered radiotherapy and chemotherapy on the NHS, and told he had an estimated three to five years to live. He sought a second opinion and fundraised for privately funded immunotherapy treatment in Germany.
“Being away from the family was horrible. The first time I had to go over to Germany was for 10 days straight, and that was terrible,” he said.
“It was extra stress, having to plan the hotels, the flights, the car hire, and then we tried a different avenue to save money, so we started driving out there – those journeys took about 12 hours each way.”
It cost £120,000, but for now, his scans show no signs of cancer.
Where would he be without this treatment? He doesn’t want to think about it.
What’s going wrong?
Hugh Adams, from the charity Brain Tumour Research, said many of the barriers are “to do with rigid thinking” and a resistance to innovate or prioritise – which explains the lack of a useable database.
But pharmaceutical companies say there are other barriers to operating here.
Biodexa Pharma, based in Cardiff, is currently two running clinical trials for brain tumour treatment, but instead of holding the trails for UK patients at home, they’re happening out in the US.
Dr Dmitry Zamoryakhin, the company’s chief scientific officer, told Sky News the process for approving a clinical trial is much faster in the US – 30 days compared roughly six months in the UK.
He added: “This, also coupled with the consequences of Brexit, makes the UK not an attractive place to conduct clinical trials.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care pointed out the £40m allocated to research the “devastating disease”, and added: “We’ve invested in every suitable research application made and the funding will continue to be available for further studies to develop new treatments and therapies for brain tumours.
“To encourage further successful applications, we are investing in infrastructure, workshops for researchers and training for clinicians.”
Jasmine is continuing to receive treatment in the Netherlands
A few days after the trip to the Netherlands, Jasmine’s family got some hopeful news: her tumour had shrunk by 25% – so she can continue to receive treatment.
“We’re over the moon,” said Anthony.
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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