A father who collapsed on a scorching summer day and received an initial diagnosis of simple dehydration has since been given a devastating terminal prognosis after the true cause was discovered. Joshua Baines, a 34-year-old vicar from Esher in Surrey, experienced increasing cognitive issues before his four-year-old daughter found him unconscious and bloodied following a severe seizure in 2021.
From Dehydration to Terminal Diagnosis
Rushed to hospital after the traumatic incident, Joshua was informed by medical staff that his seizure likely resulted from dehydration. However, when another seizure struck several weeks later, a subsequent CT scan uncovered a significant brain tumour. By 2022, the tumour was confirmed as both aggressive and terminal, with doctors providing a prognosis of just a few remaining years.
Treatment Response and Further Setbacks
Joshua described his body's positive response to chemotherapy as an "answer to my prayers," offering temporary control over the cancer's progression. Unfortunately, by October 2025, an MRI scan revealed the disease had spread to the back of his brain. This development is now causing vision loss and presents inoperable challenges for surgical intervention.
Early Symptoms and Family Discovery
Joshua first noticed something was amiss when he began forgetting lyrics while leading worship at his church. "I'd be leading the team and then I would just forget what was happening next, or where I was," he recalled. "It was so unlike me." His condition deteriorated with severe headaches and disorientation during performances.
The crisis culminated one morning when extreme dizziness struck. "I felt like I was somewhere else, like the dreamworld in Stranger Things," Joshua described. After losing consciousness and striking his head, he collapsed. His young daughter discovered him covered in blood on the floor and immediately alerted her mother, Daisy, who called an ambulance.
Living with Terminal Illness
Following his diagnosis, Joshua explained the emotional toll on his family. "As a family, we just have to pretend things are normal, but it's so hard," he shared. They've developed gentle explanations for their three children, describing MRI scans as the "doughnut machine" and new tumour growth as "an extra sprinkle on the doughnut."
"Sitting around the dinner table and answering questions honestly, including questions about death, forces you to hold hope and realism at the same time," Joshua reflected. "As a parent, you realise very quickly that cancer isn't just something happening in your body, it reshapes the emotional life of a home."
Fundraising for Treatment
Medical professionals have proposed Bevacizumab treatment, which could slow the cancer's progression and provide additional precious time with loved ones. However, this treatment isn't covered by the NHS and costs £9,042 every eight weeks.
Joshua has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the necessary funds, hoping to create more meaningful moments with his wife Daisy and their children Reuben, Isla-Dove, and Anna Rose. His lifelong fear of cancer, stemming from witnessing its impact on his grandparents during childhood, has now become his reality, but he maintains that his faith provides stability amidst uncertainty.
