Scots mum diagnosed with lung cancer and brain tumours despite 'never smoking'

A Scots mum who was diagnosed with lung cancer despite never smoking once is taking on a cycling challenge after being inspired by Sir Chris Hoy.

Jenny Rogers was diagnosed with EGFR Positive in November 2023 after suffering facial paralysis and drooling out of her mouth following a spin class.

The 48-year-old had never smoked once in her life, and was referred for scans at a hospital in Paisley, but suffered a seizure in a wheelchair at the hospital.

After tests, doctors told the mum from Helensburgh that she had a lung tumour and two brain tumours and that it had spread to her brain.

The World Health Organisation’s cancer agency said earlier this year that the number of people being diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked is increasing.

Lung cancer in people who have never smoked cigarettes or tobacco is now estimated to be the fifth highest cause of cancer deaths worldwide, according to research.

Jenny told STV News: “I remember thinking my head was ticking and I was fully cognitive but didn’t know I was having a seizure. I could move but I couldn’t shout.

“I staggered into the CT scan room and eventually passed out after someone grabbed me. I remember thinking ‘What the hell was that?’

“It was a grand mal seizure and it turned out I had a lung tumour and two brain tumours.

“They told me it had spread to my brain and I was like ‘surely not me?’. I have never smoked. I exercise and eat really well.

“It felt very doom and gloom.”

An initial diagnosis said Jenny could live for another ten years, and one doctor advised a pause on starting chemotherapy because it may have been EGFR Positive – which generally affects women and those who don’t smoke.

She now takes a targeted drug instead of chemotherapy and six weeks after being diagnosed, the tumour had shrunk by more than 50%.

She added: “The biggest impact on my life, apart from the looming doom of an early and hideous death, was that I wasn’t allowed to drive for 15 months.

“I’m back on the road now and I have scans every three months and its just fingers crossed every time.

“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster.”

The mum wants to take on the Tour de 4 cycle challenge, a near 40-mile ride which starts at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and goes around the north of Glasgow in September.

Following the Olympian’s diagnosis with Stage 4 prostate cancer, the ride was established to demonstrate that an advanced diagnosis, while devastating, doesn’t define the limits of what’s possible.

Jenny is taking on the challenge on a 25-year-old bike. She admits she is no one’s idea of a “keen” cyclist but is raising funds for the cause.

She said: “I’m not adverse to a challenge. I saw Sir Chris Hoy speaking about his journey and it inspired me, I feel like I know him at this point.

“I’m just going to bite the bullet and do it. If I only do one fundraising event while I have cancer, this is it.

“I decided it was enough time to dust off the old bike, do a few laps, turn up on the day and just do it.”

Jenny says there’s a lot of stigma around the disease.

She added: “The main message behind EGFR is that you only have to have lungs to get lung cancer.

“Generally people think when you have lung cancer its your fault. Even if you do everything right, you can still get it.”