A young woman with brain cancer, who was initially misdiagnosed with migraines, is supporting our Wear A Hat Day campaign to help fund vital research into the disease.
Tianna Davies, from Northampton, had been suffering with severe headaches and was initially misdiagnosed with migraines before her grade 3 ependymoma was discovered in March 2023.
The 24-year-old’s father, Hector Gregersen, said: “The neurosurgeon we saw after her tumour was discovered told us there would be only two outcomes if she wasn’t operated on: paralysis because of the size of it and, ultimately, death.”
Tianna, a mortgage administrator for Nationwide Building Society, underwent two debulking surgeries followed by seven weeks of proton beam therapy and will now be monitored with regular scans.
Her father said: “Tianna’s the youngest of our three children. It’s been really difficult watching everything she’s had to go through. She lost her hair over the course of two weeks and decided to shave the rest of it off. How she’s managed to stay so strong is beyond me.”
In recognition of everything Tianna has been through and in an effort to help improve the situation for future brain tumour patients, Hector has organised a Wear A Hat Day event at Nationwide’s Weston Favell branch, where he is the manager. The event has already raised more than £2,200.
Hector said: “My team has been very supportive and is keen to get involved in this too. As well as paying to wear hats, we’ll be holding a raffle and a cake sale, which I hope will go some way towards helping the shocking underinvestment in brain tumour research.
“I will be wearing a grey Brain Tumour Research hat. My wife, Caroline, has a pink one and Tianna will be joining us in a beanie hat that looks like a brain – she hasn’t lost her sense of humour.”
To support Hector’s fundraising, go to www.justgiving.com/page/hector-gregersen-1709738632787
Getting involved in Wear A Hat Day is simple and fun, and it can help fund research to save lives. For more information and to register to take part on Thursday 28th March – or any day in March that suits you – visit www.wearahatday.org
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