Hello Leeds fans, I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion. My name is Andrew and I’m a Coventry City fan. However, when we lived in Leeds in the 1990s my stepson, Huw, decided he was a Leeds fan and has remained loyal to them ever since. If you’ll indulge me a few moments I want to tell you a little bit of Huw’s story.
I took Huw to his first ever game in 1995 where he got to witness that Yeboah goal vs Liverpool. As the ball hit the bar, floor and the top of the net again, I knew then that for all my SkyBlue scheming, Huw was going to be Leeds for life.
A few years later we moved house to Stockport and one of Huw’s first actions was to find the other Leeds fan in his High School (Mike) and befriend him for life. Huw is now 39, married with a three-and-a-half-year-old son, Jacob, and works in the NHS as a qualified GP.
Sadly on Boxing Day 2019 he had a seizure while driving and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He had awake surgery and chemotherapy during the covid shutdown periods and made good progress. However, the tumour is incurable, and we knew it would regrow. In early September 2026 Huw is about to undergo a third bout of awake brain surgery (this is necessary as he needs to communicate with the surgeon, so they know when to stop!) followed by more radiotherapy. After that our only hope of extending Huw’s life significantly comes from an immunotherapy clinic in Germany but it is massively expensive.
Huw and his wife spent some time in Australia before starting a family. On their return he was working as a locum GP, and while seeking to buy their home, he overlooked the critical illness cover that would have made life more financially secure in the worst of circumstances. Of course, once diagnosed he was unable to get life insurance.
You may have seen the campaign led by Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn in recent weeks for a concerted policy towards brain cancer justice. There are more than 120 variants of the disease, but Brain Tumours are the biggest cancer killers of under 40s in the UK. Over the course of the last two decades treatment for them has hardly changed and disappointingly the prognosis for patients in Britain has fallen behind those of most of our international partners.
As I said, Huw is now aged 39 and part of his personal drive is to beat the statistic about the mortality rate for under 40s. While incurable, Huw’s tumour has been treatable and we are trying to keep him alive for as long as possible, to provide for his wife and give his son the chance to have memories of Huw as his dad.
When first diagnosed we raised money for two brain tumour research charities and the hospitals that treated Huw. We reached out to football fans across the country, and Coventry and Leeds supporters in particular, responded magnificently. One wonderful Leeds fan even sent Huw a replacement for his beloved - but recently lost - green and blue striped scarf based on the old away kit (forever known in our house as the David Weatherall kit).
Fitness and exercise have always been important to Huw and has featured heavily in both his recovery from surgery and then his everyday life living with the brain tumour. Recently he ran a half marathon raising £5k for the cancer hospital that is treating him (The Christie in Manchester) but sadly we now must think about providing for Huw and his family after he’s gone. Huw and his wife have already sold their house and are due to move into a smaller one that may be more affordable for her and their child after he’s gone.
I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to you via Marching on Together. So many Leeds fans have helped since Huw’s original diagnosis including extended family and friends – former Leeds and Cov man Carlton Palmer helped to publicise a fund-raising half marathon I ran on behalf of Brain Tumour Research just before lockdown. We’ve also had support from fans of many other clubs as well as our own.
Thanks for reading this far. If any of you are able to donate there is a GoFundMe site for Huw here but we would also like you to share the story of Huw widely. He is due to appear on the BBC Breakfast sofa on Wednesday August 19 taking about the Campaign for Brain Cancer Justice and we will be active on the socials using the Huw’s Your Daddy slogan.
Any money raised from the GoFundMe will go directly to costs of immunotherapy treatment and to provide for Jacob’s future.
Further information about brain tumours and the campaign for a more coordinated national policy can be found on The Brain Cancer Justice campaign website here.
Huw and I both hope to be at Elland Road on 28 November, albeit in different ends. Thanks again for all of your support. Marching on together and PUSB.
Andrew