A 20-YEAR-OLD student has shared his “tremendous” agony at losing his dad and two brothers to the same cancer in just seven years.
Seb Hughes, 20, is speaking out after his dad Ian and younger brothers Milo and Oscar all died from brain cancer.
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Oscar was nine when he died in May 2014, and Milo was just five when he passed away in 2021.
Tragedy struck the York-based family for a third time when 49-year-old Ian died in 2021.
University of Manchester student Seb told the Mirror: “Every day is a tremendous struggle without my dad and brothers.
“Everything I do is to make them proud, and I try to live my life to the fullest since they didn’t get the chance.
“You don’t understand until you see it first hand just how brutal brain tumours are, especially for children.”
Around 34 children are diagnosed with a brain tumour every month, Seb said – one in four of whom will not see another five birthdays.
Seb said brain tumours kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer.
The brave student was just 10 when Oscar died, and 17 when Milo passed away.
He was “very close” to Ian, Milo and Oscar – who was less than two years younger.
The whole family were Old Trafford season ticket holders – and Oscar led the team out alongside Nemanja Vidic while terminally ill.
Ten years on from Oscar’s death, Seb is preparing to walk 21 miles across the Peak District alongside other families affected by brain tumours.
He will climb seven different peaks in just 10 hours to raise funds for a brain tumour charity he set up in Oscar’s name.
The 20-year-old will do 60 other fund-raising activities for OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity.
Seb, his younger brother Lucas and their mum Marie have already climbed Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis.
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS