A WOMAN from Meriden is the inspiration for a mother a son taking on a half marathon to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research.
Emma Paul, aged 42, will take part in the Great Birmingham Half Marathon on 1 May and her five-year-old son, Kieran Tait will do the one-mile fun run to help raise awareness for Emma’s friend, Hannah King-Page, who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour 16 months ago.
Emma first met Hannah in 2003, when they were both working as group exercise instructors at David Lloyd in Solihull in the West Midlands.
Although she has since moved to Swindon, the friends have kept in regular contact, bonding over their love of helping people.“I was in absolute shock when Hannah told me about her diagnosis,” said Emma.
“Hannah is a couple of years younger than me and we’ve always shared lots of common interests and connected over our careers.”
Hannah, aged 39, from Meriden, kept her symptoms secret for three months until she suffered a seizure at work in October 2020, forcing her to seek medical help to find out the cause.
It was in accident and emergency in Bristol that the former pain management physio was given the devastating news that she had a mass on her brain.
Surgeons at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) managed to remove around half of the tumour a month later, and she continues to receive chemotherapy treatment.
Hannah said: “On the way home from Bristol, I phoned my mum and told her about my diagnosis and up until this point I hadn’t told her anything, I felt embarrassed when I had seizures.
“My mum was shocked. I felt heartbroken for her, especially as we lost my dad to a neurological condition in 2017.”
Hannah has since written a chapter called ‘On the Other Side’ for the book ‘#MyVoice Vol.4’ about her experience of being a patient rather than care-giver and raised more than £2,200 for Brain Tumour Research.
She said: “To simply make it to my 40th birthday in June would be ace.”
Melanie Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We were so sorry to hear about Hannah’s diagnosis and wish her well in her treatment.
“We’re incredibly grateful to her for sharing her story and to see that it has inspired Emma and Kieran to join us in funding the fight to find a cure for brain tumours.”
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
To donate to Brain Tumour Research visit: https://www.braintumourresearch.org/donation
