Dean Miskelly, a kind, hardworking and community-spirited father-of-four from the village of Tetney in Lincolnshire, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in February 2020 after suffering a sudden seizure during the night. Dean underwent an awake craniotomy, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy and ongoing chemotherapy. However, his condition gradually worsened. Dean was cared for at home by his family during the final months of his illness and died on 19th September 2022, aged 51. Since his death, his family and community – including local Girlguiding groups – have honoured his memory by fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, creating the Dean Miskelly Triple Challenge badge and organising events for Wear a Hat Day.
Here is Dean’s story, as told by his wife, Amy…
Dean was the kindest, most caring and helpful person you could ever meet. He would do anything for anyone and was always the first to lend a hand if someone needed help. He worked as an electrician all his life and loved being busy, whether that meant working hard during the week or helping out in the community at weekends.
Family was everything to him. We had been together for 28 years and married just a few weeks short of our 25th wedding anniversary. We raised our four children – Mollie, Josh, Tom and Edward – in Tetney where Dean became involved in all sorts of community activities. He helped teach children to swim, coached rugby and was always ready to help with events for the local Sea Scouts and guiding groups. At home he loved our dogs, long walks in the countryside and relaxing holidays in Yorkshire, especially at Reighton Sands where we had been going since the children were small. Dean also enjoyed building models and spending time with his friends and workmates – simple things that meant everything to him.
Our lives changed in the early hours of 4th February 2020.
Dean woke me up making strange noises and I quickly realised he was having a seizure. It was terrifying because he had never experienced anything like that before.
We called an ambulance and he was taken to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. Over the next couple of days, he had CT and MRI scans and on 6th February the doctors told him he had a brain tumour. I’m not sure he took much in from the conversation with the doctors, but from that moment on I felt like I had to be the one asking questions and pushing for answers about what would happen next.
At first, we were told very little. The doctors said the tumour was on the left side of his brain but there was no prognosis and no real indication of what the future might hold. Soon afterwards the world went into lockdown because of COVID-19, which made everything even more difficult. Appointments were delayed, consultations often happened over the phone and when Dean did attend hospital appointments, he usually had to go in alone while I waited outside.
Dean began medication to control his seizures and despite everything he was going through he was determined to keep working for as long as possible. Work gave him a sense of normality and allowed him to see his mates and still feel like one of the lads. As a family we simply carried on the best we could, adjusting to the new routine of medication, hospital appointments and seizures becoming part of everyday life.
At the end of February 2021 Dean underwent an awake craniotomy at Hull Royal Infirmary at the end of February. He went into the operation incredibly positive and believed it would solve everything.
During the surgery, however, his speech began to slur and the surgeons realised they could not safely remove all of the tumour.
He also developed weakness on his right side and they had to stop the operation earlier than planned. Later, we discovered Dean was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer.
When Dean came home a few days later, he was a very different man physically. He could barely move his right arm, his leg dragged when he walked and he struggled to speak properly because of aphasia. It was heartbreaking to see someone who had always been so strong and active suddenly needing help with even the smallest things.
At the end of March 2021, he began radiotherapy , followed by chemotherapy tablets taken at home . He continued attending hospital for consultations and treatment, but recovery was slow and frustrating for Dean. There were times when he became very low because he couldn’t do the things he once took for granted.
I tried to keep him as active as possible and found simple exercises to help him rebuild strength and coordination. We did small activities together such as moving marbles from one bowl to another or using pegs to practise grip and movement, and I encouraged him to walk with me even if it was only short distances. Friends and family supported us in ways I will never forget. One friend, Colin, ran a Boxercise class at our village hall and helped Dean rebuild strength and coordination, patiently adapting exercises each week. Another close friend, Nick, adapted a disability tricycle so Dean could get back out cycling. Dean painted it, but sadly he became too ill to ride it. The trike was later given to a young boy with cerebral palsy who had never been able to ride a bike before, which would have made Dean incredibly proud.
Despite everything he was facing, Dean was always thinking about other people.
When Dean finished his treatment in May 2021, he chose not to ring the bell because he hadn’t been given the all-clear and didn’t want to celebrate when others might never have that chance.
That was just the kind of person he was.
Over time, Dean's health gradually declined. He continued to experience seizures and episodes of paralysis afterwards known as Todd’s paralysis, along with increasing mobility problems. In April 2022 he became very unwell with cellulitis, sepsis and a severe urinary infection. After a difficult hospital stay, he was transferred to St Andrew’s Hospice.
Dean returned home on 6th June 2022, by which time he was bed-bound. We set up a hospital bed in the living room and carers came four times a day while nurses visited regularly, but much of the time it was our family caring for him. Because his speech had deteriorated so much, we developed our own way of communicating.
I would ask him a question with two possible answers and hold up my hands for each option. He would tap the hand with the answer he wanted. Those months were incredibly difficult but also very precious because he was at home with us.
Even during that time he still had moments that showed just how much he loved his family.
When our daughter Mollie turned 21, Dean managed to give her the silk rose he had given her every year on her birthday since she was little. It had always been their special tradition and it meant so much that he was still able to do that for her.
By September 2022 Dean had become much weaker. The last time we had a clear response from him was on 17th September when I told him it was the twins’ birthday. He looked surprised and made a little sound, as though he couldn’t quite believe they were already turning twenty.
In the early hours of 19th September, I woke suddenly and went to check on him. I knew then that it would not be long. I held his hand and told him I loved him and that he didn’t need to fight anymore, that we would be okay and that it was time for him to rest. Dean slipped away peacefully between two breaths at 1:10am with me beside him at home.
Losing Dean at just 51 feels incredibly unfair.
He should have been there to see our children grow older, to watch them reach the milestones that lie ahead and to one day meet his grandchildren. I miss him every single day.
Since Dean’s death we have tried to honour his memory by raising awareness and funds for research into brain tumours. Through our local guiding groups, we created the Dean Miskelly Triple Challenge badge, with proceeds going towards Brain Tumour Research. If we sell all the badges we hope to raise around £500, and we are also taking part in Wear a Hat Day and organising a bake sale to raise even more.
Brain tumours take far too many people far too young. My husband was only 51 when he died and that is no age at all. I will continue to do what I can to support research and raise awareness because one day, hopefully, there will be a cure.
Amy Miskelly
April 2026
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been touched by Dean’s story, you may like to make a donation via www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure.
