‘He Taught Me to Focus on What I Can Control’: The Young Mum Battling a Terminal Brain Tumour Drawing Inspiration from Sir Chris Hoy

When 36-year-old Kim Borthwick was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma in January, her world turned upside down. Just days after experiencing an “unbearable” headache, she faced the reality of a terminal diagnosis while raising her four-year-old twin boys, Max and Freddie.

But the very next day, Kim found an unexpected lifeline in a familiar figure to global sports fans: six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy. After watching his documentary, Cancer Courage and Me, Kim was profoundly inspired by how Chris and his wife, Sarah, navigated his diagnosis with their children. She immediately adopted the Olympian’s mindset, focusing day-by-day on controlling the elements of life she actually could control, and used his book as a guiding light for her own journey.

The cycling legend’s influence was already a fixture in the Borthwick household. Just weeks before Kim’s diagnosis, her mother had bought the twins the Little People, Big Dreams book about Chris Hoy, sparking the boys’ fascination with his six Olympic gold medals. When Kim was discharged from the hospital, her mother surprised her with six replica gold medals of her own, each engraved with titles including “Best Mummy,” “Best Wife,” “Best Daughter,” “Best Sister,” and “Best Friend”. Adding to this profound connection, Kim was recently fortunate enough to meet Sir Chris in person.

Determined to fight back, Kim had originally planned to channel her resilience into the saddle, signing up with a team of friends to ride Chris Hoy’s “Tour de Four” charity cycling event. Heartbreakingly, the physical toll of her condition means she is now unable to participate. However, her dedicated team of friends will still take on the challenge in her honour, riding to raise awareness for her cause.

Instead, her race is now one of advocacy. Kim is dedicating her remaining time to building a lasting legacy with the Brain Cancer Justice campaign. Her goal is to galvanise absolutely everyone, from grassroots cyclists and global sporting icons, to families, clinicians, and policymakers, uniting them to help tackle a disease where standard treatments and survival rates have remained scandalously unchanged for 30 years.

“The most shocking thing I was told wasn’t that I might be gone within months; it was that in the last almost 30 years, the treatment options have not changed. So on the NHS, it’s surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and that’s you.”

By sharing her story, Kim aims to highlight the desperate need for funding in brain tumour research. Noting that Sir Chris Hoy’s own uncle tragically passed away from a brain tumour, a detail he shared in his book, Kim hopes her legacy will inspire future sporting challenges, such as next year’s Tour de Four, to champion brain cancer charities alongside other incredibly worthwhile causes.

Kim hopes her legacy will inspire future sporting challenges, such as next year’s Tour de Four, to champion brain cancer charities alongside other incredibly worthwhile causes.

“I don’t know if I’ll see my boys start school,” she says. “My diagnosis has given me the clarity to enjoy every moment I have with them. But I have a fire in my belly to affect change for people diagnosed with brain cancer.”

Brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. Kim and the Brain Cancer Justice campaign are calling for a dedicated national lead for brain tumours across the UK and in each devolved nation, as well as crucial systemic changes like universal access to whole-genome sequencing from mandated frozen tumour tissue.

“I feel so passionately about raising awareness for the lack of funding in brain cancer research. It’s massively underfunded. This is my legacy. My children are my legacy, but so is campaigning for brain tumor research.”

“It’s too late for me,” Kim says. “But I want to make a difference for those who come after me”.

To learn more about Brain Cancer Justice and its campaign to make brain cancer treatable rather than terminal, visit braincancerjustice.org.