Callum's story – brain tumour

In January 2025, 15-year-old Callum was a sporty teenager who was doing well at school, when his life suddenly changed.

One day at school, he had a headache which was quickly followed by a seizure and he was taken to A&E.

Callum's Dad, Scott, said, “I got there, he wasn’t awake at that time. I was upset and concerned – we didn’t know what it was.”

His mum, Sarah-Jane, said, “When I arrived at the hospital, Callum was lying on the bed still in his school uniform, his shirt unbuttoned.

“At that point, I was really shocked and thought: what on earth has happened to him?”

Within weeks, Callum was told he had an inoperable diffuse brain tumour. It was not a solid tumour, but was growing like a cobweb on his brain.

Callum said, “It was definitely hard to process. I think everything was just overwhelming. And later down the line, I became sadder and sadder.”

Callum, who has a young brother, William, started on six weeks of intense radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy.

He completed the course on 4th April 2025 and has been given further chemotherapy and regular scans.

His side effects have included partial sight loss, with the loss of peripheral vision on the right side in both eyes. He now has trouble reading blocks of words, and also has aphasia which means he can have difficulty finding words, understanding language or expressing complex thoughts, especially on weeks where he has chemotherapy.

Callum has been focussing on fitness, and has returned to school part-time.

Scott said, “Each scan he’s had has shown that the tumour is reducing, which is great news, but time is short - and you need to make the most of the time that you have.”

Sarah-Jane said, “We can either sit back and just allow it to eat up your whole life, or you can make plans, have good times every day and make sure we can fight it as best as we can.”