Gosport man undergoes chemotherapy for Ewing's Sarcoma for the fourth time since 2015

Jack Beames, 21, was first diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, which is a type of cancer that affects the bones and the surrounding tissue, in October 2015.

He began getting excruciating pain in his back, which prompted a trip to the doctors and an MRI scan revealed that Jack had a tumour growing in his back.

Jack said: ‘I had back pain and I had loads of doctors’ appointments, they didn’t realise what was going on with me but eventually I got an appointment at the hospital and they did an MRI and told me the results straight away.’

He started chemotherapy soon after being diagnosed and during this time, he flew out to America for three months where he also received proton beam therapy to tackle the tumour.

After months of gruelling treatment and rounds of chemotherapy, Jack was given the all-clear in 2016 and he had five years in remission.

In February 2021, it was discovered that he had two cancerous nodules on his lungs which needed to be removed and he was taken to The Royal Marsden, London, for the operation – but now he has a rare sinonasal cancer too.

Jack’s mum, Helen Beames, said: ‘There are a lot of young people that are suffering and there isn’t nearly enough funding that goes into childhood cancer.

‘Jack is just amazing – he had his 21st birthday in hospital which was horrible but he has been dealing with it so well.

‘There are days that I just cry in the shower.

‘People always ask me how I do it, but if you are a parent, you have no choice, you have to look after your child.’

The inspirational 21-year-old was not given a break by the disease and in November 2022, they found another two nodules on his lungs and professionals planned to remove them this year.

Only a month after the third diagnosis of cancer, Jack began experiencing heavy nose bleeds and pressure behind his eyes and sinus area.

He returned back to the doctors and they found that he had a fast growing mass up his nose and in his sinus cavity, which is an extremely rare place to have a tumour.

According to the National Institutes of Health, there have only been ten cases worldwide of a sinonasal Ewing’s Sarcoma and the incredibly rare type of cancer is life threatening due to the location of the mass.

He added: ‘It just came out of nowhere really. The first time, I had the main drugs to treat Ewing’s but I can’t have them again so they are giving me the next best thing at the moment.

‘I haven’t been able to taste or smell since last year.’

Jack cannot have the same drugs that he had when he was first diagnosed in 2015 due to concerns of the toxicity levels that would arise.

At one stage, the tumour was so big that it had grown out of his nose and on one occasion, whilst at his friend’s house, he had a severe nose bleed which resulted in him being rushed to hospital and having to have his nose packed to stop the blood flow.

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Jack said: ‘The tumour was uncomfortable but since the chemotherapy it has helped a little bit and it has taken the pressure off of my eyes.’

He was then moved to Southampton General Hospital where he was monitored because of the amount of blood that he lost.

Jack has been undergoing chemotherapy and it has shrunk the mass so that it is no longer pushing onto his eyes and cannot be seen from the exterior of his face.

After five rounds of chemotherapy, Jack will be moving on to radiotherapy as no surgeons will currently operate on him because they tried to once and he nearly died from blood loss.

Jack said: ‘At the moment, the treatment is not as intense as the chemotherapy was before but maybe that’s because I’m older and I’m used to it – and I’ve still got my hair this time.

‘It is so rare that I just want to raise some awareness for it really.’

Helen added: ‘It is hard, it is hard having to watch your child go through this for the fourth time.

‘He was 13 when he was first diagnosed – we thought we were done with it and he started having these nose bleeds and we knew something wasn’t quite right.

‘We don’t know what the future holds for him – we want people to be aware that children and young people are going through this.

‘He has still got two nodules in his lungs that need to be removed but we just need to get his nose sorted before we do that.’

Jack trying to raise some awareness of what children and young adults have to endure after being diagnosed with cancer, and he is urging young people to look after themselves.

Jack also wants to thank his place of work and his colleagues at 4-Site Power and Fibre Networks in Gosport, who have supported him throughout his treatment over the past two years.

He said: ‘They have been really supportive throughout all of this, I have been there for four years and they have been great.’