In Hope

For hairstylist Claire Messer, the last thing she could have imagined was causing her hearing loss was a large brain tumour. After being diagnosed in 2015, Claire’s meningioma was successfully treated with gamma knife radiotherapy and now she is eagerly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild. She has also fundraised with her husband, Rod, and two daughters, Chloe and Celine, raising over £4,000 for the Brain Tumour Research charity.

“I was in utter disbelief. I shed tears out of anger and thought ‘I’m too young for this’. My diagnosis was a short, sharp shock that made me think about my own mortality. It was the moment I realised I wasn’t indestructible. I’m so grateful to have had such excellent treatment and because of this I’m determined to help others in a similar situation.”

Former Royal Air Force (RAF) serviceman Cliff Comber, 63, enjoyed a 27-year career in the military before he left the forces as a Chief Technician (Chf Tech) in January 2003 and took up a civilian position with South Yorkshire Police. The grandfather, from Thurcroft near Rotherham, maintained his fitness after leaving the RAF, running eight miles a day to and from work and regularly taking part in numerous marathons, half marathons and running events. His world came crashing down, however, in November 2021, when he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. Cliff, an avid Crystal Palace FC fan, is currently on chemotherapy treatment and is coping well, while his family, including his wife Carol, tries to come to terms with the devastating diagnosis. 

Clive Hawes, of Pitsford in Northamptonshire, was diagnosed with a meningioma in November 2021 after suffering a seizure during which he stopped breathing. A biopsy revealed it was low-grade and he underwent a craniotomy on New Year’s Eve, after which he opted to treat the residual tumour with holistic treatments rather than radiotherapy. It was during a follow-up MRI scan this October the 69-year-old discovered he had another tumour, a glioblastoma (GBM). He has now undergone an awake craniotomy and will soon be starting chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Colin Newton was diagnosed with an inoperable grade 2 astrocytoma in June 2018 after suffering with severe weakness in his right leg. The 41-year-old warehouse operative, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, had two rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy after which he suffered a seizure. He now takes anti-seizure medication and is being monitored with regular scans.

Keen dancer Connie Campbell was diagnosed with a grade 4 medulloblastoma in September 2022 following a sudden bout of headaches and sickness. The 11-year-old, from South Woodford, East London, underwent surgery and is now on a phase 3 clinical trial for high-risk medulloblastoma patients. She has had induction chemotherapy, 30 sessions of radiotherapy and will soon be starting a six-month course of maintenance chemo. 

Corin Snell, of Ixworth in Suffolk, is now registered blind having been diagnosed with a low-grade meningioma in February 2014. She had been experiencing persistent headaches and painful, weeping eyes for months but it was only after a visit to Specsavers opticians that the pressure on her optic nerve was detected and she was advised to go to the hospital. She has undergone two craniotomies, one in April 2014 and the other in November 2018, as well as a separate operation to have a shunt fitted. In February 2021 a routine check-up showed further growth and she was referred for six weeks of radiotherapy, the start of which was delayed so she could finally marry her fiancé in a ceremony that was postponed four times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It's been just over a year since 49-year-old dad-of-two, Damon Bowles, received treatment for a low-grade acoustic neuroma brain tumour. It's a non-cancerous growth that presses on the nerves leading from the inner ear to the brain and can affect your hearing and balance. 

Aged 30, Dan Braiden, from Cosham, near Portsmouth, had already survived testicular cancer only to be told he had a highly aggressive and incurable brain tumour. The developer at The Insurance Factory, an insurance firm based in Portsmouth, had suffered from a number of symptoms including tingling sensations, before his diagnosis with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in December 2019. Having had surgery and radiotherapy, Dan is trying to stay positive, with the support of his caring parents and loveable dog Winston.

Dan was at university when he started to suffer from crippling headaches which led to his eventual diagnosis with a grade 3 ependymoma brain tumour. Ten years on, he has had surgery three times and undergone radiotherapy. Although he lives with the knowledge that his tumour could return, he is optimistic about the future, having just moved into a new flat with his wife and working as a parliamentary researcher at Westminster.