The Commonwealth Games swimmer who might not see 40

A twelvemonth ago, a poolside telephone telephone changed Archie Goodburn's life.

The Scottish 50m breaststroke grounds holder was dreaming of nan Paris Olympics but his training had been hindered by immoderate different factors.

Seizures. Numbness connected his near side. A emotion of deja-vu.

He had undergone tests and his scan results were due. When he emerged from his latest convention successful Edinburgh's Commonwealth pool, his telephone showed a missed telephone from an chartless number. He called back. The news that followed was devastating.

"It was a beautiful improbable clip to get a telephone call," Goodburn says, speaking this period astatine nan family location successful nan capital.

"I had really said to my mum first to inquire if she had heard anything. She said nan doctors had been successful touch but she couldn't get thing retired of them.

"It's a infinitesimal I'll ne'er forget, erstwhile I sat down astatine nan separator of nan excavation - nan excavation wherever I've trained my full life - to find retired there's a encephalon tumour."

Goodburn had encephalon cancer. He was 22 years old.

It's nan biggest crab slayer of group nether nan property of 40.

Further investigation, including biopsy surgery, revealed 3 'low grade' tumours. Inoperable and incapable to beryllium removed fixed really they'd dispersed done his brain.

"It was utter shock," he says. "Going from a healthy, young personification to abruptly being told you person this ticking time-bomb successful your encephalon that could, from 1 time to nan next, go importantly worse and that there's thing we tin do to extremity it."

It's peculiarly poignant erstwhile you see this is an jock successful highest beingness information abruptly having to travel to position pinch their ain mortality.

"There are immoderate imaginable advancements connected nan sky and it's conscionable whether aliases not these will travel soon capable to thief group for illustration maine who are facing nan difficult reality that they whitethorn not spot their 40s."

Imran Liaquat, Goodburn's neurosurgeon, says nan prognosis tin alteration from 3 years to 20. Some unrecorded longer. Many don't. Accurate predictions are intolerable and location is nary cure.

Brain crab is - according to nan Astro Brain Fund kindness - nan astir fatal of each successful position of years lost, but investigations into it correspond conscionable 1% of nan nationalist walk connected crab investigation since grounds began.

That, to Goodburn, is unacceptable. Undaunted by nan battles to come, nan young Scot is driven too.

He is continuing to train for this summer's World University Games and is looking guardant to nan Commonwealths successful Glasgow adjacent summer, but is besides wished to thief raise consciousness of encephalon crab and its effect connected young people.

He's painfully alert that galore others person importantly little clip than him.

"I'm successful nan fortunate position wherever I haven't been diagnosed pinch a glioblastoma," he explains. "I don't person 12 to 16 months. I whitethorn person considerably longer.

"Often group don't get anyplace adjacent arsenic agelong erstwhile they're diagnosed pinch encephalon cancer. They're not going to want to walk their clip raising awareness. They're going to want to unrecorded each time and making nan astir of each hr they have.

"I realise I'm successful a position pinch my athletics and pinch my test that I person clip to outcry astir this horrible illness that takes truthful galore lives."

As Goodburn offers an penetration into what he, and galore others, must look connected a regular basis, a tear rolls down each cheek.

"I spot nan early successful different ways connected different days," he explains.

"There are days erstwhile I aftermath up emotion affirmative and hoping things are going to beryllium retired location that tin help. Other days, my eyes unfastened and I retrieve I person encephalon cancer. There is an extremity constituent to my life and it's overmuch earlier than it should be."

While he campaigns for much backing and amended awareness, this bonzer young man is drafting connected nan support of family and friends arsenic he pursues his profession arsenic elite swimmer.

He has a nationalist title to take sides this play and, contempt everything, he'll beryllium nan beardown favourite to clasp nan Scottish 50m breaststroke crown - unrecorded connected nan BBC Sport website, app and iPlayer - fixed he claimed metallic astatine nan British Championships successful April.

It's difficult for Goodburn to scheme excessively acold successful advance, though, particularly arsenic he whitethorn now person to see much fierce forms of curen specified arsenic radiotherapy and chemotherapy, options he's managed to postpone frankincense far.

"I want to support going arsenic agelong arsenic I tin and beryllium successful Glasgow for nan adjacent Commonwealth Games," he says.

"I tin unrecorded a beautiful normal life astatine nan infinitesimal but that's not to opportunity that's thing that's going to past and it won't beryllium thing that lasts."

Watching Goodburn train astatine The Pleasance, alongside sister and chap Commonwealth hopeful Katie, is long-time coach Mat Trodden.

He can't rather fathom really his protege is not only still training astatine a precocious level, but getting results too. Within a period of his first surgery, he won that Scottish title. And astatine nan extremity of past year, he equalled his PB astatine nan world short course.

But Goodburn isn't resting there. While he tackles caput connected each nan difficult challenges life has landed him with, he's besides allowing himself to dream.

"I'm dreaming of bettering myself," he says. "A test for illustration this takes distant nan belief successful yourself that you tin beryllium amended than you were previously. Cancer is thing that we look astatine arsenic a downhill, slippery slope and successful immoderate ways it is.

"But I dream of being amended than nan past clip I tried to do something. That lights a wee occurrence successful maine erstwhile a batch of different things put nan occurrence out.

"Doing a individual champion post-diagnosis is simply a immense dream of mine. Going connected to correspond Scotland astatine nan Commonwealth Games would beryllium massive. Fingers crossed I tin look towards nan adjacent Olympics.

"That depends connected a batch of factors extracurricular my control. I'm conscionable going to support going astatine this arsenic agelong arsenic I tin and support being Archie."

If you person been affected by immoderate of these issues, find support via nan BBC Action Line