John Brandrick's Story: What Would You Do If You Were to Die in One Year?

In London, a sixty-two year old British man, John Brandrick, reveals to the world that he spent his entire life savings after he was told that he had only a year left of life to live due to being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago. This seems almost like something out of a humorous children story, or at least in one of the never-ending soap operas found on TV. Yet this is very real, all too real for John Brandrick.

Two years ago when he received this horrifying information about his health, John Brandrick decided to do what some of us would do, live life at its fullest. Brandrick chose to quit his job, sold or gave away almost all his possessions, stopped paying his mortgage, and spent his life savings on restaurants, hotels, and holidays. An unwise choice perhaps, but when one is told that they will die in a year, all logic will most likely go out of the window. A year late with nearly nothing but his burial suit, John Brandrick was informed by doctors from the Royal Cornwall Hospital in southwest England who revised Brandrick's case, that his suspected "tumor" was a non-life threatening inflammation of the pancreas.

"My life has been turned upside down by this," John Brandrick said. "I was told I had limited time to live. I got rid of everything - my car, my clothes, everything."

Needless to say, John Brandrick is shocked, relieved, and yet worried as he has spent his entire life saving by now and is not in a good situation. He says that while he is thrilled to have a second chance in life, he was misinformed, and the hospital should pay something back due to being misdiagnosed. He admits that while it was his choice to spend his entire life savings, it is still clear that he would have not made these decisions if he did not get an inaccurate diagnosis, left alone, one that stated he would most likely be dead in one year. However the hospital said there was "no clear evidence of negligence" on its part.

"Whilst we do sympathize with Mr. Brandrick's position, clinical review of his case has not revealed that any different diagnosis would have been made at the time based on the same evidence," the hospital said in a statement.

If John Brandrick does not receive compensation, he says that he will either sell his house or sue the hospital that diagnosed him.