A father has been heartbreakingly given 12 months to live after a ‘stabbing pain’ in his head turned out to be brain cancer.
Mark Downey, 45, was struck by excruciating headaches in September 2023 as he drove to a holiday in Wales with his family.
The truck driver, from Bolton, went to A&E after painkillers failed to help, but left after waiting 17 hours to see a doctor.
After visiting his GP at home, who referred him for an MRI scan, he was eventually diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of fast-growing brain tumor that can have a life expectancy of just twelve to eighteen months from diagnosis.
Feeling ‘too strong’ to give up, Mr Downey and his partner of 23 years, Samantha Scott, 39, are now raising money to fund private treatments.
Mark Downey, 45, from Bolton, Manchester, pictured with his partner Samantha Scott, 39, suffered an excruciating headache in September 2023 while driving with his family to a holiday in Wales.
Two days before their family holiday to Kinmel Bay in North Wales, Mr Downey had noticed he had a headache, but didn’t think much of it.
He knew something was wrong when he experienced a ‘stabbing pain’ in the right side of his head while driving to Wales with his family.
“The pain in my head was so intense that I tried to pull my head the other way because it felt like something was hitting it,” he said.
‘I was taking painkiller after painkiller and the headache wouldn’t go away.’
The pain was so unbearable that it made the father of three sick.
Brain tumors can cause personality changes, especially if they are located in the frontal lobe of the brain, which regulates personality and emotions. It can also cause communication problems, seizures and fatigue
Mr. Downey was eventually diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of fast-growing brain tumor that can have a life expectancy of just 12 to 18 months from diagnosis. A biopsy showed that his tumor was 2.5 cm wide.
On the first day of the family trip, he called 911 and was told to go to the emergency room.
But once at the hospital, Mr Downey was told it would be 17 hours before he would see a doctor.
Mr. Downey and Mrs. Scott decided to take a risk and drive home while their son was scheduled to start high school that Monday.
The next day, September 4, he went to his GP and was immediately sent for a brain scan at Bolton Royal Hospital, which revealed he had a brain haemorrhage.
The next day he underwent an MRI which revealed he had a brain tumor.
Doctors initially didn’t realize how serious it was and thought it was a second-stage brain tumor, Downey claims.
But after surgery just over a month later, on October 21 at Salford Royal Hospital, a biopsy showed the tumor was already 2.5cm and he was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma.
About 2,500 Britons and 12,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma every year.
Headaches, seizures, nausea, drowsiness, vision problems and personality changes are major symptoms.
These are caused by the tumor increasing pressure in the skull as it grows.
Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are standard treatments.
There may be a life expectancy of just 12 to 18 months from diagnosis of glioblastoma and in many cases it recurs even after treatment, according to The Brain Tumor Charity.
Mr Downey underwent 30 concurrent chemo-radiotherapy treatments in addition to oral chemotherapy from October 27 to December 23, but the tumor grew back to 1.4cm.
In an effort to shrink it further, he started oral chemotherapy one week a month in January for a period of six months.
Mrs Scott, a sales assistant, fears it is ‘incurable’ and says ‘there is nothing that can be done about it’.
“Doctors say the only option is another chance at radiotherapy and chemotherapy on the NHS,” she added.
‘I don’t want to become too vulnerable, while I could still do something.
“I’m too strong and too healthy to even dream of giving up.”
Mr. Downey’s family has one GoFundMe page to raise money for alternative treatments, including immunotherapy, which are not available on the NHS.
Immunotherapy works by stimulating the body’s natural immune system to destroy cancer cells.
Mr Downey, pictured with his partner Ms Scott and two sons Lucas Downey, 19, and Taylor Downey 12, says he is ‘too strong and too healthy to even dream of giving up’
Brain Tumor Research explains that researchers believe a type of immune cell called T cells is a key component in defeating brain tumors.
However, this treatment is very expensive.
Currently the family have raised almost £5,000, but they need more than £100,000.
“We have managed to raise some money, but it is nowhere near what we need,” Ms Scott said.
“Doctors told him that immunotherapy may not be beneficial for Mark and that it will cost hundreds of thousands of euros,” she added.
There are no immunotherapy treatments approved within the NHS for the treatment of brain tumors. That’s because there is no method that has been proven to have lasting success in enough patients, according to Brain Tumor Research.