Northern Ireland teenager who struggled with brain tumour backs campaign

Amber Hanna, an 18-year-old from Belfast, had been having severe headaches and fatigue for around six years which she tried to contend with alongside secondary school but the pain was often unbearable.

Her mother, Daniella, took her to see her local GP but the symptoms were initially put down to stress.

“I didn’t know anything about brain tumours at all so I had no idea about what could be making her so unwell,” Daniella said. “As time went on, we were increasingly concerned about what it could be. Looking back now, I wish that I had pushed for scans — but I trusted the medical expertise and advice we were given.”

One night, Amber was very sleepy, slurring her speech and vomiting so Daniella called an ambulance. She was taken to hospital where an MRI scan found the Choroid plexus papilloma brain tumour. She had a series of operations to drain the fluid in her brain and remove as much of the tumour as possible and her condition is now monitored with regular scans, which have since been stable.

She has also been diagnosed with Epilepsy and takes anti-seizure medication to control it but Amber says this really impacts on her mental health too.

She is now backing a campaign by The Brain Tumour Charity’s ‘Better Safe than Tumour’ campaign to raise awareness of the possible signs and symptoms — persistent or severe headaches which may be worse in the morning, changes to vision including blurs and double vision, tiredness, nausea, speech difficulties and seizures in adults. In children, symptoms may also include balance, co-ordination or walking problems, loss of taste and smell, abnormal head position, regular sickness, especially in the morning and excessive thirst.