Harry's Story - Glioblastoma

Harry spent that weekend in bed. His mum, Louise, said, “On Monday, I found Harry in his bedroom having a massive seizure, so I screamed to his dad, Pete, to call 999. We were taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with two bleeds on his brain and put in an induced coma.”

Following an MRI scan, Harry was diagnosed with two aggressive brain tumours, both glioblastomas, and needed emergency surgery to remove them.

Louise said, “He was in the coma for three weeks and, when he woke, he couldn’t talk. You could see fear on his face. When we told him what had happened, he stood up and looked up at me and said 'Have I got cancer?' and I said 'Yes' and then he cried.”

Harry needed weeks of physiotherapy, speech therapy and support, before further treatment started in December. He said, “I remember having to go to radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the same time. I was bed-bound, feeling so sick and so unwell and I just thought this was going to be the end of my life.”

"The treatment kept the tumours at bay for several months, but in August 2022, scans then showed a new glioblastoma had appeared in the middle of my head and the chemotherapy was stopped. There was now no further treatment."

Harry is receiving palliative care and is keen to share his experience to help raise awareness.

“I wanted to plan my funeral because I didn’t want my family to have to do it. They have suffered enough as it is.