Huge footie fan, 48, who forgot star players' names dies just months after ‘aggressive cancer' found
Lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan Jamie Acaster, 48, began finding it increasingly difficult to follow conversations alongside struggling to recall the names of footballers from his beloved club.
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Despite visiting his GP several times, he was initially diagnosed with depression - but strongly believed he didn't have it.
As the dad-of-two's symptoms worsened and he began suffering from difficulty remembering words and making sense of conversations, his sister, Donna Sayle, 52, a nurse, urged him to go to A&E.
Following an MRI scan at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in April 2023, Jamie was diagnosed with a glioblastoma - a highly aggressive brain tumour - and had surgery which removed 95 per cent of the mass.
He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but suffered serious side effects, including liver and kidney issues.
Just 17 months after his diagnosis, Jamie, from Eckington, Derbyshire, died on September 1, 2024, at Chesterfield Royal Infirmary, after suffering a fatal blood clot in his lungs.
His sister, Donna, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: "Jamie was a massive Sheffield Wednesday fan, but he started forgetting the names of players he'd known all his life.
"Even the really well-known ones wouldn't come to him.
"He told me, 'things just don't match,' and that's when I knew something wasn't right - it was so unlike him.
"At his funeral, we asked everyone to wear blue and white or their SWFC shirts.
"It was a sea of Sheffield Wednesday tops. That's how much the club meant to him."
Tropical virus turned out ot be brain tumour
When Jamie started calling Donna to say things didn't make sense or he couldn't remember people's names, that's when she knew something wasn't right.
She said: "He visited his GP several times, but they said he was depressed - Jamie knew he wasn't.
"I was at work when he finally phoned and said they'd found a shadow on a scan.
"He said 'they think it's a brain tumour'. I left work immediately - it was crushing."
'He went through so much'
When Jamie was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in April 2023, he was given a prognosis of just 12 to 18 months.
While surgeons were able to remove 95 per cent of the tumour, Jamie's treatment proved extremely difficult.
He suffered serious side effects, including liver and kidney issues, swelling caused by steroids, and had to take up to 50 medications a day.
He also developed pulmonary embolisms, which further limited treatment options.
Donna said: "He went through so much and his treatments were relentless.
"Every time we thought we were past one hurdle, another one appeared.
The night before he died, he was laughing with us. It was incredibly hard to watch him go through all of that, but he never stopped being Jamie
Donna Sayle
"His body reacted badly to nearly everything - the medications, the chemotherapy, even the steroids.
"But despite it all, his personality never left him. He was still cracking jokes in his final days.
"Even the night before he died, he was laughing with us. It was incredibly hard to watch him go through all of that, but he never stopped being Jamie."
Jamie is survived by his wife, also called Donna, daughter Ava, 15, and son, Harry, 12.
Donna said: "Jamie was the kind of person who lit up every room he walked into.
"He had a way of bringing people together, whether it was family or friends.
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"He absolutely loved socialising and was always getting people round to the house.
"One of his proudest roles was running his son's football team.
"He coached them from a very young age right through to their teenage years, and you could see how much he loved being part of that.
Determined to do something positive in Jamie's memory, Donna organised a 14-mile fundraising walk titled A Jaunt For Jamie on 10 March 2025, what would have been his 49th birthday.
The route traced Jamie's journey through life, beginning at his childhood home in Sheffield and ending at his adult home in Eckington.
Ten people joined the walk, including friends, family members and Donna's colleagues from the hospital. Jamie's parents and sister joined for the final kilometre.
The group raised almost £2,000 in support of Brain Tumour Research - the only national charity dedicated to finding a cure for all types of brain tumours.
Donna said: "It felt like the only thing I could do for him. Only one per cent of national cancer research spending goes to brain tumours, and that is not good enough.
"We need more awareness and more funding to help the thousands of patients and families who are affected by this horrible disease.
"Jamie's entire journey felt like we were hitting a brick wall. Every treatment we tried failed. I walked to mark his birthday, but also to fight back against that frustration. I felt like he was with us the whole way."
Ashley McWilliams, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: "Jamie's story highlights the urgent need for more funding and awareness.
"Donna's walk was a powerful tribute and an important step toward the change we so desperately need.
"We are incredibly grateful for her and her family's support."
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
Headaches
Seizures
Feeling sick
Being sick
Memory problems
Change in personality
Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
Vision problems
Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
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