Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury mum who saved son by Googling symptoms calls for more money for brain tumour research

A mother who saved her son's life by Googling his symptoms is calling for more money to be spent on researching brain tumours.

Published

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and people under 40.

But despite this, research receives about one per cent of the national spend on cancer studies, according to the charity Brain Tumour Research.

Sabina Jones said her son Kian almost died from a brain tumour in 2012 when he was just 12 years old.

The tumour was discovered after his mother researched his symptoms on the internet and demanded a scan.

Kian was seen three times at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital before Mrs Jones suggested he may be suffering from a brain tumour.

Mrs Jones, of Shrewsbury, said that doctors told her that if Kian had gone another week without treatment he would not be alive today.

She said: "Within an hour of him having the CT scan we were informed that there was a two and a half centimetre growth in the centre of his brain.

"Me and my husband were absolutely shocked and devastated but at the same time angry that it had taken this long for someone to put him through for this scan.

"If he was left for another week the chances are he would not have survived it.

"They said he needed surgery right away, so he had the surgery on the Monday – he was in there for about nine and a half hours – and then everything was put into place for intense chemotherapy, which he had for three months, and then seven and a half weeks of intensive radiotherapy.

"In the August we were given the fantastic news that his treatment had been successful."

After months of gruelling chemotherapy and rehabilitation, Kian was given the all clear

Mrs Jones added: "It wasn't until we went through the whole process of having a brain tumour that we realised how common it is and the amount of children that were being treated in Birmingham for tumours was unbelievable.

"There were a few that we met that passed away which makes us more determined that we want to do something about it and make sure everything is available.

"We were told that more children die from brain tumours than leukaemia, yet only one per cent of cancer funding is used on research. This is unacceptable and something needs to be done."

Yesterday ministers were debating brain tumour research funding after more than 120,000 people signed a nationwide petition.

According to the Charity Brain Tumour Research incidences of brain tumours are on the rise, unlike other cancers and less than 20 per cent of those diagnosed with brain cancer survive beyond five years.

The charity is calling on the Government and larger cancer charities to raise investment to £35 million a year.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.