Doctors had told James he wasn’t seriously ill and gave him exercises
A mother whose 21-year-old son died just three months after being diagnosed has said “if love alone could have saved (him), he would have lived forever”. Dianne Mann’s son, James Mann, a 21-year-old police officer with Hertfordshire Constabulary from Bedfordshire, returned from a holiday in Greece in June 2025 feeling “imbalanced”, but was reassured by his GP it was caused by dislodged crystals in his ear.
When his condition failed to improve, he was diagnosed with vertigo in August, and went back to his GP again the following month as his symptoms had worsened – but his doctor gave him the same vertigo diagnosis. In October, Dianne pushed for an urgent MRI scan which, in November, left the family feeling as though their “world just collapsed” when doctors discovered a mass on James’ brain, leading to multiple surgeries, time on life support, and a diagnosis of an aggressive, stage four tumour.
Despite James briefly returning home and stabilising, the tumour rapidly regrew, and after being given only months to live, James died in January 2026, with his family now honouring his memory through fundraising for The Brain Tumour Charity. Dianne, 53, who works in the child protection field, said: “If love alone could have saved James, he would have lived forever. It was just hell on earth for him.
“From the moment he realised the horrors of what was coming for him, he supported his brother and sister because he knew they were going to lose him.”
After James returned home from a holiday in Greece at the end of June 2025, Dianne said he complained of feeling “imbalanced” and thought his ears had not “quite cleared and settled” following the flight. Around two days later, when the symptoms had not improved, James visited his GP who said the crystals in his ear had been dislodged and gave him exercises to do involving tilting his head.
Over the following weeks, his condition did not improve, and he began experiencing additional symptoms including dizziness and vomiting. He returned to his GP a further four times over the next few months, and in August he was diagnosed with vertigo and signed off work. He returned again in September, complaining of worsening symptoms, but was given the same diagnosis.
At the end of October 2025, Dianne spoke to James’ GP herself, expressing her “grave concerns” as James’ symptoms were “getting worse”. Dianne explained: “It was an acceleration of the same symptoms – his dizziness was affected, and he was struggling to walk without touching either the walls or furniture to steady himself.
“He also had to stop driving. He was a busy, driven, 21-year-old who loved his work and was having the best life so he was really frustrated. None of us could understand how someone who was the picture of health, a qualified personal trainer, who loved his sport and was the epitome of strength, could suddenly be like this.
“It seemed a bit crazy that nothing seemed to be able to be done for something that is extraordinarily debilitating for him, out of thin air.”
Dianne pushed for James to have another appointment with his GP the following day and for him to be referred for an urgent MRI scan. Despite it being labelled as “urgent”, Dianne was told it could take up to four weeks for him to have the scan at Bedford Hospital.
She called the hospital repeatedly over several days to check for cancellations so he could be seen sooner. She managed to secure James an appointment on November 10,2025. Dianne said: “This is when our world just collapsed.”
Immediately after the scan, the radiographer spoke to James and Dianne, informing them that a mass had been found on his brain which they were “quite worried about”. He was urgently referred to the neurology team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and underwent emergency surgery there on November 13 to relieve pressure inside his skull, which had become “life threatening”, by fitting an external drain.
On December 17, he had surgery to remove 70% of the tumour – no more could be removed due to its position. Following the operation, James developed an infection and his brain was not draining correctly, meaning he did not recover as quickly as doctors had initially hoped.
He and his family were then told he had a high-grade, progressive tumour, which they now know was H3K27 midline glioma. According to The Brain Tumour Charity, it is an aggressive grade 4 brain tumour that is situated in the midline structures of the brain and central nervous system – typically the brainstem, thalamus midbrain or spinal cord.
He later underwent further surgery to repair a wound on his head, followed by another procedure in the first week of December to insert a shunt. On the same day, he suffered a seizure and was placed into a medically induced coma. After five days on life support, James woke up.
“In true James style – he decided ‘Right, I’ve had enough of this, I’m coming off this’ and he tried to sit up and pull the tube out of his mouth,” Dianne recalled. He was then able to come off life support and leave intensive care.
However, his medical team said he was “presenting as too unwell” to be considered for conventional treatment to target the remaining tumour. In total, he spent just under six weeks in hospital, returning home on December 16.
“We didn’t leave each other – I was with him everyday either sleeping on the chair or on the floor,” Dianne added. “The first few weeks at home were challenging for him – he was mobile, albeit unsteady.”
On January 9 2026, his medical team said he appeared more “settled” following the surgeries and could be considered for radiotherapy to shrink the remaining tumour. After a scan in mid-January to help plan the treatment, the family received “devastating” news.
Dianne recalled: “The oncologist said ‘I’m really sorry, the tumour has grown back in its entirety from where 70% was taken away’. In the space of three and a half to four weeks, the tumour had completely grown back and looked like it had travelled to other places in the brain.
“It was at that point that he was given a handful of weeks to three months to live.”
When James returned home, he immediately turned to his loved ones, including his siblings Ben, 26, and Kate, 24. “He navigated and crafted conversations with them, for them to somehow have a blueprint of how to live and cope without him,” Dianne added.
“He spent every moment just loving everyone and laughing and sharing every moment with us.”
James’ condition “quickly declined” and “all of a sudden” they were told he had less than 24 hours to live. James died nine hours later, passing away on January 30 2026. “We did what we’ve done as a family forever – we were together the whole time, and he died at home with us,” Dianne said.
James’ funeral was held on March 4, 2026, and around 150 people attended. Dianne explained: “It was a testament to how much people clearly loved him – friends old and new were there, teachers, police colleagues – that was beautiful and excruciating in equal measure.”
After the funeral, the family held a “celebration of life party” at a golf club where James used to work, with hundreds of photos from birth to age 21 all around the room, as well as a film that his sister made capturing James’ whole life, made from family video clips.
Dianne and her family are now focusing on organising memorial events in James’ honour and raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity, as they know “that’s what James would do” if anyone he knew passed away in similar circumstances. “We want to help fund vital research and clinical trials into aggressive brain tumours – so that one day, families facing this nightmare are given real options, real hope and real chances,” Dianne explained.
“A saying my mum had that I passed down to my children was ‘Things are always going to go wrong in life, but we have to always try and get some good out of the bad’. So that’s what we’re doing, we’re honouring that family belief in the best way possible, which is to try and keep James alive in the only way we can now.”
To donate to the family’s fundraiser, visit: www.justgiving.com/page/james-mann.
For support and more information, visit: www.thebraintumourcharity.org.
