We are delighted to share some lovely news from our supporter and Brain Tumour Research guest blogger, 27-year-old Rose Acton. Rose is now engaged to her long-term boyfriend Tom who surprised her by popping the question on a minibreak to Wales.

Diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in August 2019, Rose is currently going through intensive treatment for grade 4 brain cancer. Determined to fight the aggressive tumour she calls ‘Bobby’, she is writing about her brain tumour journey online, facing the disease with courage and positivity. In the latest instalment from Rose, she spills the beans about the shock engagement to her childhood sweetheart.

My boyfriend Tom told me he’d booked an overnight stay in North Wales. I didn’t ask much about it, I was just looking forward to a lovely break.

Halfway through the journey, he decided to see how much fun he could have with it. He said we were going to eat at “the best Thai restaurant outside of Thailand.”  Honestly, I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to look it up!

Throughout the journey, I’d been desperate for a wee - we had to stop every hour. One of the joys of Bobby is that during treatment, my bladder hasn’t been on form. Tom suggested stopping off at a service station but I could see from the satnav that we were due to arrive in less than five minutes. I couldn’t understand why he was so keen for us to make another pit-stop when we were so close, so I said I could hold on.

Then suddenly I recognised ‘Sglods Gwen’s Chippy’ and realised we were arriving at the beach in Porthdinllaen where Tom and I had our first kiss 10 years ago, when we were just 17 (yes, we’ve been together for that long). Not a Thai restaurant at all!

It was our 10-year anniversary in September. We had always planned to go there to celebrate the occasion, as it’s a super special place for us. Needless to say, I had other things going on then and so it passed us by and the trip was delayed.

We pulled up and I had to have a “nature wee” (luckily no one else was there). As I turned around, Tom proposed. I said yes, of course! It probably wasn’t quite what Tom had in mind for the romantic proposal, but when a girl’s gotta go…