An unusual symptom – the overwhelming smell of bleach – led to a devastating diagnosis for a father-of-two, who is now urging others in similar positions to "hold on to hope and positivity in whatever way you can".
Sam Suriakumar, 40, who lives in Worcester Park, south London, with his wife, Sindhu, 39, and their two daughters, Avaana, 10, and Arya, eight. While in his bathroom, the sudden scent of a cleaning agent "almost filled up (his) mouth", leaving him feeling dizzy.
Initially dismissing the smell as if his wife had recently cleaned, the self-employed recruitment consultant and musician, an avid gym-goer, experienced the strong smell and dizziness again during a workout the following day.
On his journey home, Mr Suriakumar suffered a "massive grand mal seizure" on the London Underground, so severe it dislocated his shoulder.
He was rushed to hospital for tests, where a "large shadow" was discovered on the left side of his brain. Mr Suriakumar was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour on 4 February, 2020.
While the mass was stable for around two years, Sam was informed it had grown towards the front of his brain in 2023, which “knocked (him) off (his) feet”.
As the tumour sits on the areas responsible for his speech, memories and movement, making it near-impossible to operate, Sam underwent 30 sessions of radiotherapy and nine months of chemotherapy treatment to try to suppress its growth – and he is now in a monitoring phase, receiving scans every six months.
Sam celebrated his 40th birthday on July 26, a milestone he did not think he would reach, and he has tried to turn his situation into “something positive” with the aim of providing encouragement and inspiration to others.
“I’m trying to use my experience to inspire people and turn this into something positive, rather than letting it define me as this poor guy with a sad story,” Sam told PA Real Life.
“I want to provide encouragement and inspiration to others, in that we can fight and we don’t have to let it define us.
“Hold on to hope and positivity in whatever way you can.”
The day before his diagnosis on February 3 2020, Sam was at home in his bathroom when he started to smell bleach – but he assumed his wife had recently cleaned.
“The smell of ammonia, bleach or some sort of cleaning agent was almost filling up my mouth, it was really strong,” he recalled.
“I felt like I needed to lean against the wall and use the radiator to stand, I felt very strange.”
Not thinking too much of it, Sam carried out his usual activities the following day, where he had a gym session in the morning.
While lifting a heavy weight, he said “the cleaning agent smell just all of a sudden hit me, it completely enclosed everything”, and he felt “very dizzy”.
Later that day on his commute home from work, Sam recalled feeling “drained of energy” while sitting on the Northern line of the London Underground.
“I closed my eyes and it felt like half an hour went by, but we had only moved one stop,” he said.
Sam said he closed his eyes once more and he does not remember the following 48 hours, waking up again in hospital.
Recalled to him by paramedics, station staff and those treating him at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, Sam had suffered with a “massive grand mal seizure” while on the Tube.
“I’d seized up so bad that I dislocated my shoulder,” he said.
Sam was rushed to hospital, having two more seizures in the ambulance, before a series of tests were conducted – such as CT scans, MRI scans and a lumbar puncture.
He said one of his CT scans showed “quite a large shadow” across the left side of his brain.
Sam’s “world spiralled out of control” when he was informed he had a brain tumour, a suspected low grade glioma, on February 4 2020.
“My mind went straight to my girls, who were only three and five at the time,” Sam said.
“All of a sudden, your priorities become very clear.”
The tumour would be difficult to operate on, Sam said, as it covers the parts of his brain responsible for speech, movement and memories.
Sam added he was in the “best shape” of his life at the time, and his neurosurgeon, who he has since formed a “great relationship” with, suggested they start by tackling his symptoms, the seizures, rather than attack the tumour itself.
“It was a case of not wanting to poke the bear,” Sam said.
His tumour was monitored in regular scans for two years where it appeared to be in a stable state, and he had not suffered with any more seizures.
He was advised to keep himself in a positive and hopeful mindset and to build a strong support system around him.
During this time, Sam tackled the 2023 London Marathon to raise money for Brain Tumour Research, and he has taken on other fundraising activities to raise around £60,000 for charity to date.
In a bid to raise awareness, he also became a supporter ambassador for Brain Tumour Research in 2023, which has taken him into public speaking to share his journey.
However, while in Brazil in July 2023 for a wedding, Sam received a sobering call from his neurosurgeon to say a recent scan had shown “a new area of growth” on his tumour, and it was now time to use further treatment measures.
“It knocked me off my feet,” Sam said.
He underwent a biopsy on his tumour in August 2023 – where it was officially diagnosed as a diffuse oligodendroglioma, a type of glioma which is often benign, but some can be cancerous.
Two weeks later, he started 30 sessions of radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital.
This was followed by nine months of chemotherapy treatment, which Sam completed in September 2024.
Determined to keep pushing himself, Sam completed the HYROX indoor fitness competition in Belgium just six months after he finished treatment – tackling eight kilometres of running and eight functional workout exercises.
His tumour is now in a monitoring phase, and Sam will have scans every six months to better understand the impacts of the treatment.
He said he is now “sitting on the fence” between his tumour being low grade and benign or high grade and cancerous, saying the aim is to keep it “suppressed as much as possible”.
Sam celebrated his 40th birthday on July 26, a milestone he did not expect to reach.
“Brain tumours are the biggest killers of children and adults before the age of 40, so it was a big deal for me,” he said.
For others in his situation, Sam said he would send them a “massive hug”.
“Your brain talks to every single part of your body and it’s so important to have a positive mindset,” he said.
“It’s not going to come every single day, but try to find those things that inspire and encourage you to help you move forward.”
For more information, visit the website for Brain Tumour Research here: braintumourresearch.org
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