Poignant BBC documentary helps raise awareness

Brain Tumour Research

2 min read

Yesterday (20^th November), broadcaster Glenn Campbell’s moving documentary, My Brain Tumour and Me, aired on BBC Scotland, captivating a nation with its honesty and raw emotion.

The programme, which you can watch on iPlayer here, documents Glenn’s story from diagnosis via treatment through to the present day; Glenn is currently living scan to scan with an oligodendroglioma.

During the documentary, Glenn bravely shares on camera a hillside seizure, details the agonising wait for biopsy results and reveals his most intimate feelings as he awaits surgery. We are witness to not only Glenn’s heartbreak as he navigates the rollercoaster of a brain tumour diagnosis, but that of his family, as his mum describes how “the bottom fell out of my world”.

Glenn’s message is ultimately one of hope, in which he talks of learning to live with cancer, gaining clarity on what truly matters in life, and wanting to get as much out of every day as he can – brought to life by the stunning backdrop of the Scottish scenery. Yet he laments the current inadequacies in brain tumour diagnosis and outcomes: “The treatment has not really changed in a generation,” says Glenn, sharing his wish “to move the science on so that the patients that have yet to be diagnosed have a better experience”.

He takes us along with him on his fundraising efforts cycling and climbing Scotland’s Munros as part of his Brain Power fundraising community, which is raising money on our behalf to help us fund a Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence in Scotland.

Yesterday morning, Glenn joined our Head of Stakeholder Relations Hugh Adams on the BBC Breakfast sofa, to discuss the documentary and this vital need for more investment in research.

Also featured in the documentary is our patron Theo Burrell, who is living with a glioblastoma (GBM). Glenn speaks warmly about his friendship with Theo, describing her as “my cancer coach, because any issue that comes up she will have dealt with it already.”

Sharing coffee and cake, the pair discuss the anger often felt by brain tumour patients. “There’s a lot to be angry about beyond the personal when it comes to why hasn’t the science advanced as quickly as it has in some other types of cancer,” says Glenn.

You can donate to Glenn’s Brain Power JustGiving page for Brain Tumour Research by clicking here.