Becky Jones was just 21 when she was told she had a terminal brain tumor and only a few months to live. The diagnosis completely changed her plans: she began undergoing chemotherapy and for years believed she was fighting a cancer that could kill her.
The treatment continued for 11 years, despite several scans showing no obvious tumor. Jones says she suffered nausea, stomach pains, mouth ulcers and constant fatigue, in addition to having to limit her social and professional life.
Everything changed in 2025, when an independent analysis conducted by neurosurgeons and radiologists concluded that she had never had brain cancer. In fact, she had tumefactive demyelination, a brain inflammation that could be treated with steroids.
Now, at 34 and a mother of two, Jones is among more than 40 patients who have taken legal action against the hospital where she received treatment.
A preliminary review by the Royal College of Physicians found problems in several of the cases examined and questioned the prolonged use of chemotherapy. For Jones, discovering the truth after more than a decade was devastating: “I have spent most of my adult life receiving this treatment for nothing”.