Daughter of Teesside woman with brain tumour 'making every moment count'
Rosemary Hill is now in hospice care after being given three to six months to live
The daughter of a Teesside woman with an inoperable brain tumour say they're making every moment count as she's in hospice care after being given three to six months to live.
78 year-old Rosemary Hill was diagnosed with glioblastoma back in September last year.
She fainted at home and was taken by ambulance to North Tees Hospital, where she was initially told she had likely overheated. However, her daughter, Dr Catherine Bladen, and her sister Helen felt something was wrong. Over the following two weeks, they say they noticed subtle but concerning changes in Rosemary’s personality and behaviour, changes only close family would recognise.
When Rosemary fainted again, this time in the shower, Catherine and Helen returned to hospital and refused to leave until she was thoroughly examined. A junior doctor ordered a CT scan, suspecting a missed minor stroke.
Catherine said: “Within 30 minutes, our world changed. They found a mass. I have a PhD in cancer research and have spent my career studying cancer. My mind immediately went to glioblastoma, and I knew what it meant.”
An MRI later confirmed their fears. Rosemary had a 6cm tumour in her right frontal lobe. Due to its size and location, surgery was not possible, though a biopsy confirmed the glioblastoma diagnosis.
Brain Tumour Research says more than 100,000 people are estimated to be living with a brain tumour or the long-term impact of their diagnosis. Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.
Catherine said: “As a scientist, it was a sobering moment seeing my mum’s scans and fully understanding the implications. Treatment options are still surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy – the same blunt tools we’ve had for decades. There are no biologics routinely available for brain tumours because of the blood-brain barrier, and my mum’s non-methylated tumour means treatment is even less effective.
“We tried to get mum onto a clinical trial but there was no interest. Once you’re over 75, this disease is treated differently, as if your life matters less. That should never be the case. My mum was active, working, and capable. Seventy-eight is not old in our family, this disease is robbing her of time.”
Determined to make a difference, Catherine and her colleagues at Vector Labs have taken action. Instead of sending Christmas cards last December, the family asked for donations to the charity Brain Tumour Research, and the company held a Christmas Jumper Day in, raising £800. Catherine has also committed to an ambitious programme of endurance fundraising challenges throughout 2026, including the Newcastle 10k, Middlesbrough Half Marathon, a variety of triathlons in Cheshire and Liverpool, and a five and a half mile swim in Lake Coniston in the Lake District.
Catherine said: “I’m built more for strength than speed, which is why I’ve chosen challenging endurance events to raise vital funds for research. I’ve never known anyone to survive more than 12 months with a glioblastoma. That’s why we need personalised medicine; it would be revolutionary. People’s health should be a priority.”
Letty Greenfield, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said:
“Catherine’s story powerfully exposes the devastating reality faced by families affected by glioblastoma and the urgent need for better, more personalised treatments. Brain tumours remain one of the most underfunded and least-survivable cancers. Fundraising efforts like those led by Catherine and Vector Labs are vital to accelerating research and giving families hope for the future.”