A woman from South Wales is organising a variety of ‘hat-tastic’ events for Brain Tumour Research after being diagnosed with the deadly disease.
Beth Harris, 31, from Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, was diagnosed with a glioma in October 2019 after suffering three seizures in a row.
Beth, who is mother to four-year-old Elis, and a former employee at Ammanford and Carmarthen Leisure Centre, had no symptoms prior to her shock diagnosis.
After taking part in a parkrun on the morning of 26 October 2019, Beth appeared ‘zoned out’ during the car journey home.
She said: “When I got home, I went upstairs to get ready and I just kept forgetting what I was doing, and was really ‘spaced out’.”
Beth’s husband, Cellan, 34, a self-employed plasterer called his in-laws to come round to the house whilst he left for work with Elis. However, he quickly returned due to Beth’s alarming behaviour.
Beth added: “They asked if I was pregnant to which I said yes, even though I knew I wasn’t. I then put myself on the floor and had three seizures. Cellan had returned home by this point and stepped in to monitor my seizures. During which time my terrified parents called my brother and he came round to take care of Elis, who was two at the time.”
Beth was taken to Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli where she spent two nights awaiting CT scan results. She was taken by ambulance to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen where an ambulance waited for her to have an MRI scan before taking her back to Llanelli. The results later revealed the devastating news that she had a brain tumour.
On 11 November, surgeons at Heath Hospital in Cardiff operated to remove as much of the tumour as they could. A biopsy of the tumour revealed a grade 2 or 3 glioma. Gliomas are initially slow-growing but have a tendency to progress to a higher grade over time – usually a number of years. A course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment followed. Beth’s chemo finished in January and she continues to be monitored with regular scans.
Beth said: “At the time of my treatment, my mother-in-law was on end-of-life care for cancer of the oesophagus so we were dealing with a lot and I just wanted to be as practical as possible. All I wanted to know was if my tumour would come back, how much the treatment had worked in shrinking what was left and if I could go back to work or if it was a ‘go and enjoy the time you have left’ type of thing.”
Beth and Cellan married at Carmarthen Registry Office in February, after re-arranging the ceremony three times due to COVID-19. They had a bigger celebration with family and friends in September, at the Cliff Hotel in Cardigan.
She now wants to fundraise and to raise awareness to support others who may be going through a similar experience.
On Saturday 11 December, Penybanc RFC ‘painted the field pink’ to kick off the fundraising, led by Beth’s proud husband, Cellan, who plays back row for the team. As well as this, visitors attending Carmarthen and Ammanford Leisure Centre on Friday 17 December (Wear A Christmas Hat Day) will have the chance to enter a raffle to win a hamper with locally-sourced ‘goodies’. People are encouraged to wear a Christmas hat and donate £5 to Brain Tumour Research.
Beth said: “I loved my job at the leisure centre, having worked there from the age of 17. Now I suffer from fatigue and other side effects as a result of my diagnosis, it’s unsafe for me to go back to work. I am so pleased that they are supporting my Wear A Christmas Hat Day event.”
Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re sorry to hear about Beth’s diagnosis and we wish her well. Her story reminds us that brain tumours are indiscriminate: they can affect anyone, at any time anytime. I’d encourage anyone who feels inspired by Beth’s determination to get involved and join us this Wear A Christmas Hat Day to fundraise and help find a cure for this awful disease.”
