‘I lost the two most important men in my life to brain tumours’

Adrian Meehan, known to all as Adie, from Balby in Doncaster, was diagnosed with two brain tumours following uncontrollable facial spasms which left his wife, Sue Meehan, screaming in terror. The 45-year-old died five months later, in August 2015.

His father-in-law, Malcolm Kirk, known as Malc, aged 69, was diagnosed following a routine check to fit a hearing aid. He died three months later, in March 2016.

This month, Sue has been putting her best foot forward by taking part in 10,000 Steps a Day in August for the charity Brain Tumour Research.

Sue said: “My dad and Adie were lovely men who were best friends. I wouldn’t wish what happened to them on anyone. It was so hard to deal with what happened to Adie, everything happened so quickly, and everything changed in the blink of an eye. When Dad was diagnosed, it was really hard to get my head around it, and it was really hard for Dad who was also grieving for Adie.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

On 15 March 2015, Adie felt unwell after coming home from work delivering cars.

Sue, aged 47, said: “He said he’d had a funny turn and wanted to go straight to bed. I heard an almighty commotion upstairs; when he came downstairs, every muscle in his face lost control and his whole face was twitching. I started screaming and he collapsed. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Adie was taken by ambulance to Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI) where a scan revealed ‘problems’ on his brain. He was transported to The Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield where further tests and scans revealed he had Stage 4 lung cancer and two metastatic secondary brain tumours.

Sue said: “Before then, Adie had no symptoms at all. I thought as long as he doesn’t die, we can cope with anything, but it wasn’t to be. We were told they couldn’t operate because the tumours were too deep in his brain. The only treatment he had was three weeks of radiotherapy at Weston Park Cancer Centre in Sheffield, along with chemotherapy for the lung cancer, but it was the brain tumours which caused us problems. You would never have known he had lung cancer.”

Adie suffered two more seizures before he died from a pulmonary embolism on 13 August 2015.

Sue’s dad, Malc Kirk, had been feeling unwell in October 2015. In December, while having a brain scan to fit a hearing aid, a tumour was detected.

Sue said: “He was told he only had six months to live which was a massive shock. I thought ‘here we go again’ and I had to put my grief on hold so I could be strong for Dad, Mum and my sister. After Adie, it felt awful knowing what was going to come for Dad.”

Malc spent two weeks at St Mary’s Nursing Home in Doncaster before he died on 15 March 2016.

Sue said: “I’m doing the 10,000 Steps a Day in August challenge to raise vital funds to research this devastating disease. Adie and Dad’s deaths can’t have been for nothing; I’m doing it for them, and I think they would be really proud of me.”

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re so sorry to learn Adie and Malc both died from brain tumours just seven months apart.

“We are so grateful to Sue for taking on the 10,000 Steps a Day in August challenge, as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Adie and Malc who are forced to fight this awful disease.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.