Kim Borthwick, 36, from Glasgow says she would have made a “really good granny” but sadly it is “too late”.
A mum with incurable brain cancer “doesn’t know if she’ll live long enough to see her young sons start school”. Kim Borthwick was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in January 2026, just a week after she began experiencing symptoms.
The 36-year-old from Glasgow had just enjoyed Christmas with her husband, Ross, and four-year-old twin boys, Max and Freddie, when she came down with a headache.
She initially thought she had just overdone it but the pain became “unbearable” before her hand started tingling, she lost feeling down one side, and began vomiting.
Following several GP visits, Kim was referred to A&E for an urgent CT scan. She was soon afterwards diagnosed with a glioblastoma – a type of highly aggressive brain tumour – and told she might need surgery that evening.
Kim says NHS staff saved her life and gave her more time with her sons. However, she is realistic about what’s next, given that if she makes it to her 40th birthday, she will be among the longest-surviving 10 per cent of people diagnosed with her type of cancer.
“I don’t know if I’ll see them start school,” she said.
“You take those little moments for granted until you realise they could be taken away.
“My diagnosis has given me the clarity to enjoy every moment I have with my boys.”
“It’s too late for me but I want to make a difference for those who come after me.
“I know I would have made a really good granny.”
Kim said her experience has also brought home the lack of attention and resource given to tackling brain cancer, where survival rates in the UK have not changed for decades.
She said this felt like an “injustice” given survival rates for many other cancers have improved “dramatically” over the same period.
She has joined the Brain Cancer Justice (BCJ) campaign group, which is urging politicians to provide greater support and funding for rare cancers.
The group is also calling for a dedicated minister for rare cancers to ensure continuity in research, funding and policy.
She explained: “I have a fire in my belly to effect change for people diagnosed with brain cancer in Scotland.
“It is difficult to accept, but it’s unlikely I will benefit from these changes.
“I can’t accept this diagnosis knowing we could be doing so much more in Scotland to support people with brain cancer.
“There’s been no change to outcomes for people diagnosed with brain cancer in 30 years, and brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. To me, that is scandalous.”
She pointed to the fact patients in other G8 countries routinely receive surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy as standard treatment, along with treatment using the Optune device, which slows the growth of cancer cells.
She said this combination is not routinely available in Scotland, leaving many families having to navigate treatment options, clinical trials and additional support on their own.
Kim also pointed out tumour samples in Scotland are not routinely “fresh-frozen” during surgery, which she said means patients in Scotland become ineligible for clinical trials and emerging genomic treatments that require preserved tissue samples.
“These aren’t cures,” she said. “Nobody is pretending they are. But they give people more time with the people they love and, ultimately, that’s what matters.”
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