Brain tumour research: Rotherham mum’s research call after son dies aged just 24

Crystal Wood, from Rotherham, lost her son Aaron Wood to a grade three anaplastic astrocytoma – a type of deadly brain tumour – when he was just 24 and fears he could have had it since he was 15.

She said: “It is hard enough to lose a loved one and it is never right to lose a child. Aaron was 24 when he died, but he was still my baby. I shared our story because I don’t want Aaron’s legacy to die, I don’t want his name to be forgotten. Aaron was a fit and healthy young man on the brink of a life full of promise and meaning when he was struck down by this awful disease. Prior to his diagnosis we had no idea about the numbers of people affected by brain tumours and the dreadful prognosis which so many face. How can it be that, in this day and age, there is so little funding for research and so few treatment options?"

She is urging the Government to put more money into brain tumour research, as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT) calls for changes to how research into the disease, the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under the age of 40, is funded.

The inquiry report: Pathway to a Cure – breaking down the barriers, launched yesterday at a Westminster reception, jointly hosted by Brain Tumour Research and the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission by the APPGBT, calls for changes in how research into the disease is funded.

Crystal added: “Just after Tessa Jowell died in 2018, the Government pledged to invest £40 million into brain tumour research, but so far just £15 million of this has been allocated. Yet just 12 per cent of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50 per cent across all cancers. This is totally unacceptable for the thousands of families which face the news each year that a loved one has been diagnosed with this devastating disease.”

The first sign Aaron was ill came while his family had a celebration to mark his sister completing treatment to correct a twisted femur and lengthen her right leg. Crystal said: “Within a few minutes of coming downstairs to sit with us, Aaron had a seizure. I had never seen anything like it before and panicked. At first, I thought he was choking. One of Emily’s friends, who was first aid trained, took over as we dialled 999.

“Aaron was taken to Rotherham Hospital and the first thing he remembered was waking up with paramedics working on him. He was admitted to a ward and asked lots of questions about his lifestyle, he was a social drinker, didn’t smoke, and was otherwise fit, healthy and active."

A scan later showed an abnormality and Aaron was transferred to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.

Crystal said: “It was the first week of 2013 when we were told Aaron had an oligodendroglioma brain tumour. It was a slow grower and had quite probably been there from around the time he was 15.”