Two decades on from being diagnosed with a brain tumour at 16, a Morpeth-born man is taking on 20 hikes across 2023 to raise cash and awareness for a vital cancer charity.
Tom Sanderson, 35, is marking the bittersweet anniversary with the series of walks - taking in the length and breadth of the country but featuring his home county of Northumberland prominently. He was at boarding school in Scotland when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, but he had been experiencing symptoms for about twelve months before that.
These included headaches, sickness, fainting and inability to concentrate. But initially medics didn't think a brain tumour was to blame - until a dramatic crisis over the Christmas holidays left him undergoing emergency brain surgery.
Tom said: “Medical professionals believed that I was a typical teenager struggling with stress from exams. At the time it was quite hard to be dropped down academic sets and made to study alone as I was embarrassed by it and unable to control the situation. This made me feel isolated, which was very difficult.
“I don't remember anything about the build up to my diagnosis but understand that I had been unwell for a few weeks beforehand. On the first day of holidays I collapsed whilst with my sister and mum. They rang 999 and when the ambulance arrived they quickly took me into the nearest hospital for an MRI scan which showed that I had severe hydrocephalus and a tumour on my brain stem.”
Surgery revealed Tom had a grade one Astrocytoma. After a long recovery, Tom is now backing The Brain Tumour Charity’s Better Safe Than Tumour campaign to raise awareness of the possible signs of a tumour. He said: "Better Safe Than Tumour is an unbelievably important campaign. It’s vital to raise awareness of early warning signs of brain tumours as they can often present as a minor illness, but if someone is experiencing two or more of the common symptoms it is so important to get in front of a medical professional for advice.
"Someone said to me recently that diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours must have evolved a lot in the twenty years since my experience. Sadly I don't think too much has changed. One of my best friends was diagnosed with a brain tumour about ten years ago and went through a very similar experience to me.
"Awareness is rising, but there is so much more to be done. The treatment for this condition remains incredibly intrusive and life changing and there needs to be more research and investigation into the treatment and rehabilitation of the condition."
Tom, who loves hikes with his wife Lucy, and is now London-based, explained that this Saturday he will be walking in Kielder, and the plan is to return to Northumberland in April for a walk that'll finish at Beadnell's Craster Arms. He added: "We need to be grateful for every moment and make the most of the time we have. I was so lucky to survive and will fight the cause forever.”
Tom wants to raise £5,000, help his fundraising at justgiving.com/fundraising/Tom-Sanderson13. To find out more about the campaign, visit thebraintumourcharity.org/
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