Boy who overcame brain tumour ‘buzzing’ to meet Scotland rugby players

A five-year-old boy who overcame a rare brain tumour is “buzzing” to meet the Scotland rugby union team after their match against Australia at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Joey Sharp, from Midlothian, will join Scottish Commonwealth swimmer and brain tumour research campaigner Archie Goodburn as he delivers the match ball.

Scottish Rugby have arranged for Joey and his mother, Sam Sharp, to meet the Scotland players and have accessible seating to watch his first Murrayfield game.

“He’s looking forward to the day out and this will be his first time at Murrayfield,” Ms Sharp said.

Joey’s family are big Scotland rugby fans and Ms Sharp, 39, is a season ticket holder, but Joey was previously unable to come because he was too unwell, she said.

Joey, who lives in Penicuik, was diagnosed with a brain tumour at just 11 days old after losing weight rapidly, becoming increasingly sleepy and experiencing little twitches.

His type of brain cancer, a glioblastoma, is more commonly diagnosed in adults and carries a prognosis of 12-18 months.

Joey underwent three surgeries and nine rounds of chemo, experiencing 30 seizures a day.

However, he lives with cerebral palsy, visual impairments, and weakness down his right side as a result of treatments he received.

“It’s really good that he’s doing so well just now, but there’s still obviously the anxiety and things that come with the follow-up scans,” Ms Sharp said.

Joey’s family have said he continues to amaze them every single day.

Ms Sharp described him as a “little ray of sunshine”.

“He’s mischievous, really caring, and he’s well-behaved,” she said.

The five-year-old has just started school and his mother said he already has a “wee fan club”.

Joey is looking forward to meeting Goodburn, who lives with three brain tumours and has campaigned passionately for research into the disease.

Goodburn’s recent meeting with the Prime Minister resulted in a commitment from the Government to transform outcomes for brain tumour patients.

Supporters at Murrayfield will have the chance to donate to two charities leading the fight to help those with brain cancer – Brain Tumour Research and the Astro Brain Tumour Fund.

Ms Sharp said more donations mean there will be more money for research and kinder treatments.

“There wasn’t that much (available to Joey),” she said.

“All of his stuff was like clinical trials.”

With more research and funding, she said children like Joey would have better options available to them.

Dr Karen Noble, director of research and policy at Brain Tumour Research, said Joey’s story is a “powerful reminder” that brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone, at any age.

“Some 62% of children who survive a brain tumour live with life-long disabilities, yet funding for research remains critically low and there has only been one new treatment approved for childhood brain tumours since 2000,” Dr Noble said.

“We call on the Government to support an increase in the national investment in research into brain tumours to at least £45 million a year to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.”