'Doctors said my headaches were just stress until my…

'Doctors said my headaches were just stress until my optician noticed something wasn't right'

A young mum received the devastating news that she had a terminal brain tumour after suffering from painful headaches for weeks. Reagan Kirkpatrick is now trying to make as many memories as possible with her two-year-old daughter with the time she has left.

Reagan, 22, was diagnosed with a Grade 4 diffuse midline glioma brain tumour last July. She was told that the tumour is incurable.

Prior to her diagnosis, the mum from Annitsford, North Tyneside, was plagued with severe headaches for several weeks. Doctors initially put them down to stress and prescribed her with some tablets, Chronicle Live reports.

Reagan said: "It all started in June when I began to get headaches and was really tired all of the time. I went to the doctors and they said it was due to stress and gave me some tablets to help with them."

Yet her headaches continued to get worse and they were so painful Reagan was unable to go to work. After blood tests failed to reveal the cause of the problem, she decided to book an appointment with Specsavers.

Reagan Kirkpatrick, 22, with daughter Amara Bell, two (Reagan Kirkpatrick / ChronicleLive)

She said: "The optician did some tests and found that there was something behind my eye and gave me a letter, which she said I needed to take to the doctors [straight away]," she said.

"The next day, I was still getting really bad headaches so I went to Cramlington Hospital and that's when they did an MRI scan and told me I had a tumour."

Only days later, Reagan under went an operation Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary to relieve some of the pressure that was causing the headaches. The brave mum has since undergone six weeks of radiotherapy at the Freeman Hospital and is now on her fourth round of chemotherapy.

She has been told that the tumour is shrinking but tragically it remains incurable with no way of knowing how long she has left with her daughter, Amara Bell, two.

"Doctors can't tell me how long I had the tumour before it was diagnosed or if it could have been prevented," Reagan said. "I am just taking each day as it comes [but] it is so hard.

"I don't go out that much because it is taking its toll on me now and I can hardly go up the stairs. My balance is really bad and I need a wheelchair if I go to the shop."

Reagan is now on a mission to make as many memories as she can with her beautiful little girl and is hoping to take her to Disneyland Paris in 2023. Reagan's colleagues at Domestic and General, where she worked as customer sales advisor, have launched a fundraising campaign called ‘Raise 4 Reagan' to help pay for her final wishes.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up by work friend Liam Vinsome as part of the campaign and has so far raised more than £3,000.

Reagan said: "I want to take my daughter to Flamingo Land and, hopefully, to Disneyland Paris. I am so thankful to Liam and my work colleagues who have set up the fundraiser."

And the courageous mum had an important message for anyone struggling to get a diagnosis. She said: "If you think something is wrong, definitely get a second opinion."