In Hope

Bradley was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour at the age of three and underwent radiotherapy. Apart from headaches, his life continued as normal until he was 18 and had to be flown home by air ambulance while on holiday for a surgical procedure to help relieve pressure building up in his head. Then at the age of 23, following a massive seizure, he had a 10-hour operation to attempt to remove the ‘inoperable’ brain tumour. Miraculously, the neuro-surgeons succeeded in removing 95% of the tumour. In the years since his surgery, Bradley has worked hard on his rehabilitaton and now, aged 29, can walk almost perfectly, although he is waiting to have Botox to help regain movement in his right hand. 

“My neuro-consultant was becoming very concerned, but he still didn’t want to take the risk of trying to remove the tumour, due to its dangerous position and the risks of life-changing consequences. However, one day I had a massive seizure and the doctors were unable to bring me round. The pressure had built up to a dangerously high level which meant there was no option than to operate to relieve the pressure as quickly as possible. I had the emergency procedure and was taken to the High Dependency Unit and put into a coma. Meanwhile, my parents were told that it was now imperative to attempt to remove the ‘inoperable’ tumour once the pressure in my head had been reduced and I had returned to a stable condition.”

After suffering a seizure at his home in Milton Keynes, 54-year-old Brian Carrick underwent surgery to remove a grade two oligodendroglioma, which had been growing unnoticed for at least 10 years. Brian feels tremendously lucky it was discovered at a point where he could benefit from new research and before it became cancerous. Brian is currently undergoing a six-week course of radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy to try and remove a small amount of tumour that was left after surgery.                                              

“I dread to think what could have happened if Emma hadn’t been home that day, or if I was driving at the time of the seizure. I’m very lucky that I’m here and able to tell my story, unlike so many others that have been struck by such a devastating disease like cancer.”

Soldier Cameron Ray agreed to his brain surgery being filmed for a BBC documentary because he wanted to raise awareness of the disease and to help reassure others who were coping with the same diagnosis. He hopes to get back to full fitness, complete his training as a medic and resume his career serving his country in the British Army.

Mother-of-two, Carlie Buchanan, from Grove in Oxfordshire found a lump on her breast in December 2018, and months later was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Carlie entered 2020 with optimism after undergoing a year of treatment for her breast cancer, however, as 2020 came to an end, she began experiencing new symptoms and in February 2021, Carlie was diagnosed with secondary cancer of the brain. With the support of her family and sister Jasmine, Carlie is determined to raise awareness and fundraise to help find a cure for brain tumours.

Shortly after landing her dream job and marrying her childhood sweetheart, Carly from Chippenham in Wiltshire, suffered a seizure out-of-the-blue. A series of tests and scans revealed the devastating news of a mass on her brain and in January 2018 she had surgery to remove a low-grade oligodendroglioma. Since her diagnosis, Carly has excelled in her career and travelled the world with her husband, Kris. In August 2021, the couple welcomed their first child and in the same month they will celebrate their daughter’s first birthday, Carly is preparing for a second operation to remove regrowth of her tumour.

When Carol Hayes was sent to A&E in February 2018, she expected the worst and sadly her fear became reality. It was a brain tumour that had been causing her constant headaches and affecting her vision. The 56-year-old is still trying to come to the terms with her diagnosis but she remains positive as she undergoes six months of chemotherapy.

Caroline was 13 when she was diagnosed with a pituitary gland brain tumour after her mother finally managed to persuade doctors to take her worrying weight gain and growth seriously. For a number of years, she had been told to get Caroline to lose weight. Caroline underwent surgery twice because the tumour returned and now, aged 26, she will have to take medication for the rest of her life after her pituitary gland was damaged during surgery.

Carrie-Ann Greenwood, from Holywell in Flintshire, North Wales, was 36 weeks pregnant when a sudden loss of vision on her right side prompted her to visit her optician. She was referred for an MRI scan, which revealed a golf ball-sized tumour on her pituitary gland.

The diagnosis in May 2016 led to an emergency caesarean section to deliver her daughter Cerys, followed by brain surgery just days later.

It took four months of headaches gradually getting worse before Catherine was finally diagnosed. One day she had such blinding pain on the left side of her head that her husband called an ambulance and she was taken to A&E. Catherine was given a CT scan, leading to the discovery that she had a brain tumour, which later turned out to be a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Mum-of-three Catherine Wilcockson had not been feeling herself and was mistakenly prescribed anti-depressants to treat her symptoms. After a couple of episodes of ‘blacking out’ and then a massive seizure in May 2019, it was finally discovered that she had a brain tumour. The 37-year-old from Sheffield has undergone an awake craniotomy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy and, since her recovery, has dedicated herself to fundraising for Brain Tumour Research. Remarkably, Catherine feels like her diagnosis has given her a new lease of life