A Brain Tumour Research supporter has shared his wife’s heart-breaking story to raise awareness of “the forgotten cancer killing midlifers”.
Paul Green has spoken openly about losing his wife Helen Legh to a brain tumour in a powerful article in The Daily Telegraph. BBC radio presenter Helen was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in 2014. Over four and a half years, she underwent four surgeries, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment. She passed away on 18th June 2019, leaving her husband and beloved daughter, Matilda.
In the article, Paul explains how, by 2019, Helen needed full-time care due to the impact of the brain tumour, which left her unable to walk and affected her speech.
He said: “It was a relief when she died. I know people may judge me for saying it but when the love of your life and 44-year-old mother of your child has to be spoon-fed, it’s no kind of life. She wasn’t my wife anymore; she was someone different. And in the end, she wanted to die.”
Paul is working with Brain Tumour Research to raise awareness of this devastating disease with the hope that it will help to bring forward the day when a cure is found.
Hugh Adams, Head of Stakeholder Relations at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Brain cancer kills more adults under 40 than any other cancer and that’s basically down to lack of research. With other cancers, such as breast cancer or leukaemia, the research has come leaps and bounds in the last 10 years and the statistics have been turned on their head as a result, but the treatment for brain cancer hasn’t altered in the same time period and there is a serious lack of options. We’re currently campaigning for a parity in funding with other cancers - because if not, there will be no new therapies and more deaths.”
To read the full article on the Daily Telegraph’s website, please click here.
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