Blog
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
Guest Blog: Ben Lindon on the importance of support for patients

Blog categories
Whilst we campaign to increase the UK's national investment in brain tumour research to £35 million per year, many of our supporters are fighting this disease on a personal level. Our amazing Ambassador Ben Lindon describes what it feels like to live with a brain tumour and what needs to be done to improve patients' experience.
“The horror, the horror“ is a very well-known quotation from a Hollywood film about the very real Vietnam War. Obviously, it’s from the film Apocalypse Now, where the actor Marlon Brando goes mad from spending too much time lost in the Vietnamese jungle.
In a sense, neither of us know what’s ahead of us or what we’re going to get ourselves into and neither of us knows if we’re going to survive. Maybe it’s unfair to compare the two because soldiers die such horrific deaths for almost no reason at all. However, none of us knows if we are going to survive such a long-term disease. It is with this horror that we learn to face death. Unwittingly.
Soldiers know what they are getting themselves into but, in our case, we have no idea because one second we are fit and healthy and the next we are gravely ill with a terrifying condition. We have to deal with this by ourselves. The only way to do this is to listen to the doctors and specialists. Just like soldiers have to listen to their commanders. We have no alternative. We put our lives in their hands. We hope they are right.
That's also why there needs to be much more research into this devastating disease. Communities must rise up and help dedicated brain tumour charities to fund the fight. Larger charities must invest a greater amount of funding and governments must significantly increase their contribution if we are to catch-up with investments made into other cancers and lead the world in brain tumour research.
Related Reading
If you found this story interesting or helpful, sign up to our weekly e-news and keep up to date with all the latest from Brain Tumour Research.