IN HOPE... brave soldiers, who have battled through

The diagnosis of a brain tumour is devastating, however there is hope.  We have been fortunate to meet some very brave people who have survived to tell the tale and who want to share their story to give hope to others.

Charlie Boutwood Charlie was the much wanted son of his parents.  They already had two daughters and he completed their happy family.  At 20 months he faced the terrifying prospect of surgery to remove an enormous and malignant brain tumour.   Miraculously he made a remarkable recovery - Read Charlie's Story...

Jack Brydon In 2003 and aged 17 Jack Brydon discovered he had a brain tumour. Today he is fit and well and leading a normal life.  He counts himself as one of the few lucky ones - Read Jack's Story...

Andrew Crowe Andrew Crowe is in his early 40s and lives  in Swindon.  He has a brain tumour and has been through numerous operations and is trying hard to regain his normal life - Read Andrew's Story...

Alexandra Drummond In 2007 after a sudden unprecedented series of fits Alexandra (then 33) was diagnosed with a brain tumour.  While it was suspected to be benign, surgeons were keen to operate as soon as possible using a new type of equipment called the SonoWand which would help to remove as much of the tumour as possible.  Three years on she is healthy, happy and heavily involved in fundraising and campaigning for the work of the charity Brain Tumour Research  Campaign (BTRC).  Despite needing to take anti-seizure medicine for the rest of her life she is surprisingly upbeat and keen to use her experience to help others who have been affected by brain tumours - Read Alexandra's Story...

Marian Dye Marian Dye first started to get symptoms in 1988.  For nine years she visited doctors who put her headaches down to a variety of reasons.  Finally, in 1997 she was diagnosed and in 1999 she had an operation to remove a brain tumour.  Since then she has lived life to the full caring for her deaf and blind husband, going to work, in addition she is also a school governor and spends a lot of time with her granddaughter - Read Marian's Story...

Meg Hill Meg was aged 19 and about to begin a new life at university when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour.  She was operated on in Boston, USA, having been deemed inoperable in the UK and is now married and living life to the full - Read Meg's Story...

Melissa Huggins Melissa is an attractive twenty-eight year old primary school teacher with a Grade III Anaplastic Ependymoma brain tumour and further tumours in her spine.  She was diagnosed in 2005 after many years of not knowing what was wrong.  In 2009 with the help of her sister, fiance and friends she raised £250,000 to send her to Boston, US for proton therapy to shrink the tumour.  She has since had chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is back teaching at school three days a week - Read Melissa's Story...

Ian Meek In 1995 Ian was diagnosed with a brain tumour.  Married to Sally with three children, Ian counts himself one of the lucky ones because he has survived this long.  In 2009 the tumour turned cancerous and he had to undergo an operation to remove part of it.  He is now undergoing a fairly intensive period of chemotherapy whilst training for the famous three peaks challenge - Read Ian's story...

John Stuart John had an operation to remove his brain tumour in 2004 and ever since, his scans have revealed no evident tumour.  He feels very lucky, not only to have survived, but to have been able to rebuild his life and return to work, albeit not in the same capacity as before - ReadJohn's Story...

Jay Wheeler Although Jay's brain tumour was completely removed during surgery, he then had to undergo radiotherapy and chemo, leaving him with a , number of different side effects.  Despite his agonising ordeal he is looking forward to starting his degree course in Animation and Special Effects - Read Jay's Story...

Maisie Dury

When our lively, loving, mischievous daughter turned two-and-a-half in 2007, we noticed that she sometimes looked a bit vacant. We weren’t unduly worried but mentioned it to our doctor who suggested it could be a form of epilepsy. She referred us to a specialist. Over the next few weeks, Maisie began to have seizures, during which she would shake and appear to lose control. The hospital told us that Maisie’s condition was not urgent and we would be seen by a specialist in three months. A parent’s instinct told us that something was more seriously wrong with our little girl, so we pleaded for her to be seen earlier. A neurologist at St George’s Hospital, in south-west London, saw Maisie a few weeks later. She was diagnosed with a common form of epilepsy and given medication for the seizures. We were relieved. We had a diagnosis and could help her. We were given leaflets and information and felt better. Although we were concerned about the epilepsy, her condition wasn’t life threatening. How wrong we were.

Fortunately the neurologist suggested Maisie had a routine MRI scan (which is not always the case). We went to the appointment on a Monday morning in June 2007 expecting to be home by lunchtime. That afternoon she was admitted to a children’s neurology ward.

Maisie had a brain tumour.

Words can’t describe the devastation we felt. The following day we were told Maisie had a tumour in the centre of her brain, an unusual position. We were in complete shock. There were no leaflets to read and we didn’t know what would happen to her.  Maisie’s surgeon was amazing. He took time to explain everything and went ahead with the operation the next day – the longest day of our lives.

Maisie has recovered well. Fortunately the tumour was ‘low grade’ and because it was discovered in time it could be successfully removed by the surgery. But Maisie is still very young. She had an ‘oligodendroglioma’ which is a rare tumour among children and because so little is known about brain tumours in general, the future is uncertain. Maisie continues to have treatment and is closely monitored at St George’s and the Royal Marsden with regular scans. But we were lucky for many reasons - from having a doctor who referred Maisie immediately, to securing a neurologist’s appointment early and getting an MRI scan quickly. We found Maisie’s tumour before it was too late. We also had amazing support from the surgeons, neurologists and hospital child psychologists who help us cope with the affects of Maisie’s surgery and treatment. Brain tumours are complex. There desperately needs to be more funding to help understand the causes of such tumours and their treatment. We need to raise the awareness and profile of brain tumours.

As a parent you never expect your child to get a brain tumour, but it can happen. There are so many children out there who do not get diagnosed early enough and whose symptoms are often missed. More children die of brain tumours in the UK than from any other cancer. We think of those children and families every day and are working to support the brain tumour cause in whatever way we can.
Vanessa and Ollie Dury


James Crossley

Life was turned upside down in August 2000 when James, aged 9, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and went through 2 huge operations. He has been left with severe speech difficulties, weakness down his right side, educational and visual difficulties.

Time stood still for months on end but through sheer determination James has got back on a skateboard and then his bike after 2 years.  He rarely complains, is always cheerful and has no sense of danger!  He is a delightful endearing lad who has melted the hearts of all who work with him and has been spurred on by such a huge dedicated team of specialists in all areas especially in physio.

His life has enriched us and has shown us how much good has come out of this evil "tumour".  We live in hope and live life to the full, savouring every moment that we have as a family.  It has also left us with anger and frustrations at the "not knowing" enough about brain tumours and why it happened, life revolves around every annual scan and a younger son who is severely affected by "a brother who is not the same as before his operation".

Although things are still a nightmare for him, he seems so happy and he knows that he is a very lucky boy compared to other children who have had to endure severe treatments and those who have died.  Our hearts go out to those families who have lost their fight against such a dreadful disease.  There is a desparate need to raise money to fund research which will combat this "beast".

Amanda & Trevor Crossley