My Story

I’ve managed to bag myself a place on the London 2026 Marathon and have chosen to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity as their charity are helping to treat something that is close to my heart.

I went partially deaf in my right ear almost two years ago, my balance had declined, and I felt like my ear was blocked. After a long wait I had an MRI scan and in Aug 24 I got the news that I wasn’t going mad and that there was something there.

What was there is ‘Fred’. Fred is other wise known as an Acoustic Neuroma. An Acoustic Neuroma is a form of benign brain tumour that effects about 1 in 100,000 people in the UK each year. It is situated on the cranial nerves that run from the ear to the brain. Fred is thankfully on the small to medium size and I have been informed that it is a super slow grower which means it will likely grow 2mm in size per year or potentially even stop. I am in the process of waiting to see if there is more growth and if there is then my likely treatment option due to size is gamma knife / static radio surgery.

Although in my case it means deaf and not death, Acoustic Neuroma’s can still bring with them lots of symptoms including SSD (single sided deafness), Vertigo, balance issues, facial palsy and fatigue.

I’ve made it my mission to remain positive and to get myself as physically fit as possible for any treatment that might come my way and what better way to do that than run 26.2 miles. If you can, please help support this cause and me. Every little bit will go a long way and would be greatly appreciated