28-year-old Hockley man with incurable brain tumour says more investment is needed for research into the disease
Charlie Pearson, from Hockley, Essex, has been diagnosed with glioblastoma
A 28-year-old man from Hockley says more investment is needed into research for glioblastoma, after he has been left unable to work.
Charlie Pearson used to work as a civil servant, before he had a seizure on a tube platform.
He is working with the charity Brain Tumour Research, which funds research to find better treatments and improve outcomes for patients facing this type of incurable brain cancer.
Charlie said: “I was doing really well at work and I was going up in the world but the tumour was all over my brain, affecting my speech and language. I was like a totally different person; I couldn't even string a sentence together. I really enjoyed working but now I've got no purpose, and I can't even think for myself.
“I just can't get over the fact that treatment hasn't changed in decades and there still isn’t a cure. Other cancers, such as breast and bowel have had so much money invested in them for research and they have gone on to show huge differences now with survival and people going back to getting on with their lives. The same needs to happen for brain tumours.”
The charity says brain tumours kill more men under 70 than prostate cancer, yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.
Charlie has a glioblastoma – a highly aggressive and rapidly growing tumour that is especially challenging to treat. It is the most common type of primary high-grade brain tumour in adults, with around 3,200 people diagnosed each year in the UK.
In July 2019, Charlie suffered a seizure at home. He was taken by ambulance to Southend University Hospital where an MRI scan revealed a tumour. He had surgery at Queen’s Hospital in Romford but he developed an infection in the bone flap on his head and had to have it removed. Charlie had another operation at King George Hospital in Ilford six months later.
“After my recovery, I was having monitoring scans every six months and after a while these became annual,” said Charlie.
“I went about my life as best I could, but in July 2023 I had a seizure whilst on the London Underground. I could feel it coming on because I suddenly became hot and my arms started feeling strange. I disembarked at a station where a paramedic happened to be waiting on the platform.”
An MRI scan at St Thomas’ Hospital in London showed that the tumour had developed into an incurable glioblastoma – something Charlie didn’t learn about until he returned home from holiday in his fiancé Ollie’s native Portugal.
Charlie said: “I’m glad that happened because it gave me longer without knowing and allowed me to enjoy one last holiday with Ollie. Although, while there, I had another seizure. My face drooped on one side, I wasn’t able to speak for 20 minutes and I began walking with a limp.”
After having an awake craniotomy at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Charlie underwent combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, resulting in him losing his hair.
He now has three-monthly check=ups in Southend University Hospital in Essex.
“The whole situation is sad, I just wish it could be better. That’s why we need to keep pushing for more research into this disease. It's not for me because I've resigned myself to it, but I just want to support people that come after me. I just hope and pray that a cure can be found.”