A mother-of-one has left doctors ‘gobsmacked’ with her astonishing cancer survival — she’s lived with the deadliest type of brain tumour for over a decade.
Glioblastomas, which usually kill within 18 months, are extremely aggressive and often untreatable.
Well-known victims of the disease include Labour MP Tessa Jowell, who died just a year after diagnosis, and The Wanted singer Tom Parker, who lost his life aged 33, less than 18 months after doctors spotted his tumour.
Now 32, Jade Collett, from Worcestershire, believes her extraordinary survival is partly due to the fact her disease was spotted early, thanks to an unusual symptom that struck her during a night out.
A decade a go, aged 22, she was enjoying an evening with friends when she noticed a change in the way she walked.
Her foot was bent, causing her toes to point outwards, towards the right.
At the time her friends laughed off the incident and assumed she was just too drunk — but she developed pain in her foot that eventually became agonising.
She visited her GP the following day who sent her for an MRI scan and further testing.
Jade Collett (pictured with her daughter Grace who is now 10) was only 22 when her foot ‘bent outwards’ on a night out. Her friends laughed off the incident and assumed she was just too drunk — until it turned out to be a bizarre terminal cancer symptom
An MRI (pictured left) revealed that she had a brain tumour in her motor cortex, which was affecting mobility in her foot. Doctors told her the fact her foot turned outwards (pictured right) was actually ‘really lucky’ as the rare symptom was the only sign she had a brain tumour
The results revealed a brain tumour in her motor cortex — a frontal area of the brain that’s involved in movement — which was affecting mobility in her foot.
A biopsy confirmed the mass was a grade 4 glioblastoma — the fastest-growing brain cancer that can carry a life expectancy of just 12 to 18 months.
Doctors told Ms Collett she likely had just two years to live.
Devastated, she began planning her own funeral and preparing herself to say goodbye to her one-year-old daughter, Grace.
Recalling the start of the ordeal, Ms Collett said: ‘I was on a night out with my friends then all of a sudden, my foot started to turn outwards a little bit.
‘I had hip dysplasia during my pregnancy so thought it was something to do with that, or that I’d twinged a nerve.
‘Everyone thought it was a pinched nerve. It didn’t cross my mind that it could be something sinister.
‘When we walked into town, it was hurting but a few hours in I couldn’t even put my foot on the ground it was hurting that much. I had to be carried home.
M Collett is unable to work due to her tumour and although her foot still has the bend in it and is still numb, she continues to defy doctors’ two-year prognosis
The mother-of-one said she wanted to keep going for her daughter Grace and is grateful for the strange symptom in her foot
‘All my friends thought I was drunk and just laughed it off.
‘But the next day I still couldn’t put my foot on the ground, and it felt really numb.’
When Ms Collett received her diagnosis she ‘froze’.
‘I didn’t even talk or cry. I was just sitting in the car silent thinking what is going on? I remember bawling my eyes out crying saying “I’m going to die”. Grace wasn’t even one yet.
‘The only thing I thought about was Grace. I asked how long I had, and the doctor told me two years max.
‘They said it’s inoperable because if they attempted to remove it, I would be disabled. They would give me treatment, but it was just to keep me stable and prolong my life.’
She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy soon after her diagnosis and, so far, hasn’t needed to undergo further rounds of treatment to keep her tumour at bay.
Although her foot is still bent, she continues to defy doctors’ two-year prognosis.
Doctors’ ‘cannot explain’ why her tumour has remained the same size.
‘I found it hard going past the second year because I felt like I was waiting around to die. I felt like I couldn’t plan ahead and was in limbo,’ she said.
‘I’ve got a will and had a whole funeral planned, it’s all ready. I never thought I’d have to plan my own funeral at 22.
‘But I’ve always wanted to keep going for Grace. I feel so lucky and just thought I’m going to carry on with my life.
‘Since having my treatment nine years ago, I haven’t had any more treatment and I’m still here.
‘Doctors have no idea what’s going on and they’ve called me a miracle. They have no answers and are gobsmacked I’m still here and so healthy.’
Ms Collett said she feels ‘grateful and so lucky’ to be alive as less than one per cent of those with this type of tumour live this long past their diagnosis.
‘My foot definitely saved my life,’ she said.
‘I’m very glad I suffered this symptom — I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Every day I feel super grateful.’
Around 2,500 Brits and 12,000 Americans are diagnosed with a glioblastoma every year.
Headaches, seizures, nausea, drowsiness, vision problems and personality changes are key symptoms.
These are caused by the tumour increasing pressure inside the skull as it grows.
Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are go-to treatments, but in the vast majority of cases, this only works to keep the cancer at bay for a short period of time.
