Proud wife and mother Lisa, tells their story here.
“In 2005 our then 11-year-old son, Scott, was diagnosed with a rare tumour that was growing in the space behind his nose and pushing against his brain.
“In June of that year he had a 23 hour (yes, that long) operation to remove it and put his face back together. Unfortunately the tumour couldn’t be completely removed so a year later he had stereotactic radiosurgery, which was used to remove the remnants of the tumour.
“This worked. However, it also caused small holes in the dura , which caused CSF to leak out. Scott contracted meningitis five times over a three-year period. After a couple of nasal surgeries and one final in through the head op he has been fine since.
Extremely fortunate
“We know how extremely fortunate we are to still have Scott with us. He is now 23, super fit and healthy and achieved a First from Northumbria University last year after studying for a Sports Science degree.
“We spotted the symptoms early and were able to get medical treatment quickly – despite one GP dismissing my concerns as back ache. We followed our instincts and got him the care he needed, carrying copies of his notes definitely helped to speed things up.
“Since then we have fundraised a couple of times for charities that have helped us in the past such as SSAFA – we are a military family as my husband is serving as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Air Force. But he decided to raise what he could for Meningitis Now by running a 10K in our local town last weekend.
“It isn’t a huge amount but we know every little helps and we are very proud of him for getting out and doing it.”
