‘I thought I wouldn’t get to meet my daughter’: Daniel Goodwin reveals biggest fear amid cancer fight

A family member of a Socceroos star has been dealt a cruel blow, discovering he has cancer while awaiting the arrival of his second daughter.

Daniel Goodwin endured months of pain before a “mammoth” tumour was finally discovered in the soon-to-be second-time dad’s brain.

For Mr Goodwin – who is the brother of Socceroos’ star left-winger Craig Goodwin – what should’ve been anticipation for his second daughter’s arrival was instead months of drafting wills, dreaded surgeries and an overarching fear of whether he would be alive to see the birth of his daughter.

“I’m going through this and there might even be a possibility that I might not even get to meet my second child,” the Greenwith man said.

“Having that dawn on me … I thought, for as long as I can I’m going to fight this for her, not just my oldest daughter and my wife.”

Daniel Goodwin at home with daughters Sophie 2, Olivia 4 and wife Danielle. Picture: Brett Hartwig

What began as a sore neck, was ultimately put down to strained eyes and poor posture, then after months of massages and pain relief, Mr Goodwin decided he must undergo an MRI which he had on May 13, 2022.

“It was the best $450 I ever spent,” the 36-year-old said.

“I knew something was wrong when I had the MRI and the radiologist told me to wait outside … it was a whirlwind from there.”

Despite having surgery, 20 per cent of Daniel’s brain tumour remained. Picture: Supplied

After the MRI, Mr Goodwin was immediately brought to RAH and then, because there were no beds, he was transferred to The Memorial Hospital in North Adelaide.

He underwent a surgery to release built up spinal fluid in his brain before undergoing a 16-hour surgery a few weeks later to remove what the MRI had discovered — a 5.2cm benign tumour.

“They (the doctors) found it was attached to the primary artery in my brain and the risk of removing it all was far too high … I’d be dead basically,” Mr Goodwin said.

Doctors were only able to remove 80 per cent of the tumour and diagnosed Mr Goodwin with meningioma.

Daniel Goodwin must travel overseas to have proton beam therapy for a brain tumour. Picture: Supplied

Daniel underwent a 16-hour surgery to remove 80 per cent of the brain tumour. Picture: Supplied

Since, Mr Goodwin’s tumour has continued to grow.

“We know it’s growing, we know it’s growing in different directions,” he said.

Because of this, Mr Goodwin has been forced to apply for federal funding to travel overseas to undergo lifesaving proton beam therapy — a treatment unavailable in Australia.

Daniel thought he was experiencing a sore neck from bad posture or straining his eyes, it turned out, he had a brain tumour. Picture: Supplied

Adelaide was due to have it’s very own proton beam therapy unit in the Bragg Centre, however in a crushing blow, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute has “terminated” the contract with ProTom International – leaving authorities scrambling for a new supplier for the treatment.

“It’s very disheartening,” he said.

Now, his family has needed to set up a GoFundMe page to support his family in his trip overseas as he awaits news of his application’s status.

“It’s a little bit surreal … it’s something you read in the news or from other people, it’s not really something you consider happening to yourself,” Mr Goodwin said.

If you want to donate to Mr Goodwin, you can here.

Originally published as ‘I thought I wouldn’t get to meet my daughter’: Daniel Goodwin reveals biggest fear amid cancer fight