World Cup-winning England icon starts journey to have child with partner after brain cancer diagnosis

Monday, 01 December 2025 at 18:51

byRugby Rucker

A sports star couple are sharing the heartbreak they suffered as the “next chapter” of their love story to have a baby was rocked by the discovery of an incurable brain tumour.

Married ex-professional rugby players, Vicky Fleetwood and Tom Chapman, are today announced as Ambassadors for the charity Brain Tumour Research, following Tom’s cancer diagnosis in April aged just 31.

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The sporting couple were handed the shock news as newlyweds planning to start a family. Faced with fertility issues due to treatment, they have embarked on an IVF journey to have a baby together.

Tom, now a rugby coach and advertising executive, said: “My prognosis is five years, which, when you’re 31, fit and healthy, and newly married, isn’t what you expect to hear. What was meant to be the start of the rest of our lives together turned into a nightmare.”

World Cup-winning England rugby star and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Vicky said: “We got married, we’d been on honeymoon, and having a baby was the next part of our story, the next chapter for us – or so we thought. We knew I’d never have a baby while I was still playing rugby, so this was our time.”

Brain tumours are indiscriminate, affecting anyone at any age and the disease kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

Tom, who has more than 150 National League appearances and played for Worcester Warriors and Blackheath, was in peak physical condition when he suffered a seizure at the couple’s South East London home just two weeks after returning from their honeymoon.

“It was the trip of a lifetime to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, going on an elephant safari and taking a local cooking class. We talked about our future, picturing the two children Tom had always wanted, and decided to start trying soon. We didn’t feel under pressure. We didn’t know time was already against us,” said Vicky, 35. The pair had married in France in June 2024, after meeting 12 years ago at a rugby tournament.

“Then, without any warning, Tom had a massive seizure. We’d been napping on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon, and our three-year-old boxer, Willow, suddenly woke me up. Tom had a grand mal seizure and stopped breathing. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. My first aid training kicked in and I started giving him CPR, while screaming at him to wake up. I just kept thinking, ‘Is he going to die?’”

The A&E doctors believed Tom had suffered a stroke but a CT scan at University Hospital Lewisham confirmed a tumour on his brain, thought to be a grade 2 glioma.

Tom said: “The tumour was the length and size of a toilet roll tube which I thought sounded pretty big. The consultant said I’d probably had it since I was a child and gradually it had mutated. In some ways it was reassuring because I’d gone 31 years without any side effects.”

A 10-hour operation in April was successful in removing the whole tumour but tests revealed it was in fact a grade 4 astrocytoma – the most aggressive form of this type of brain cancer.

“To me, all I heard was numbers. I knew hearing four was worse than two,” said Tom.

While Vicky and Tom reeled from his diagnosis, they faced the uncertainty that his treatment, which included chemotherapy, could affect his fertility and reduce the couple’s chances of conceiving a child.

“It could take us years to get pregnant and that wasn’t a risk we could take with Tom’s prognosis,” said Vicky. “We had a two-week window in which we had to decide to go down the IVF route and we took those early steps, for Tom to give a sperm deposit, very quickly. We desperately want a baby together and it will give Tom another reason to fight this disease. I want him beside me for all the milestones – first steps, first words, first day at school.”

Tom added: “All of this has shown us that life is just so fragile. What’s the point in waiting? I just wish we had got married earlier because you never know what is around the corner. But this is our path now.”

Despite undergoing combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden in Chelsea, Tom maintained his exercise regime and continued to coach rugby at Old Colfeians RFC. He and Vicky also took part in a 24-hour CrossFit challenge to raise £20,000 for Brain Tumour Research, to help fund vital work being carried out at the charity’s network of Centres of Excellence where scientists are dedicated to finding a cure.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to be living with a brain tumour or the long-term impact of their diagnosis, yet the disease remains chronically underfunded.

Tom, who is now taking part in a clinical trial to test a new drug combination for his tumour type, said: “The problem is, brain tumour patients often don’t have the luxury of time, which is why investment in research needs to happen now. At the moment, it feels like a one-size-fits-all approach, but patients aren’t all starting from the same point. I refuse to be defined by an average.”

Vicky added: “We’re incredibly proud to become Ambassadors for Brain Tumour Research. It means the world to us to support the charity, not only for Tom, but for others diagnosed with this cruel disease now and in the future.

“Through Tom’s diagnosis we’ve learnt the shocking statistics around this disease and how just 1% of the national investment in cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002. That is unacceptable and unfair. As Ambassadors we’re looking forward to joining the charity’s fight to find new treatments and, ultimately, a cure for all types of brain tumours.”

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