A Yorkshire man who is terminally ill with two brain tumours completed the London Marathon in an astonishing three hours and 16 minutes, less than a year after he lost the ability to walk.
George Wade, 41, from Thirsk in Yorkshire, was diagnosed with two cancerous growths in April last year, after suffering a series of symptoms which he initially ignored.
The first sign was a severe headache, which came on one morning while driving back from a boozy weekend in Cheltenham.
Oddly, he found that looking at the car headlights made him feel sick.
‘I just thought it was like a huge hangover from Cheltenham and knackering myself out,’ he said.
But within a month, Mr Wade began experiencing stroke-like symptoms, such as the left side of his face and body becoming weak and drooping.
He phoned his GP brother-in-law who reassured him about the episode and arranged for him to have blood and eye tests, which came back clear.
He was booked in for a precautionary MRI scan on April 18, three days before he was due to run the Blackpool Marathon.
Mr Wade initially ignored his symptoms, putting them down to overworking and drinking
There are more than 120 different types of brain tumours meaning the symptoms vary a lot. Hearing voices, losing interest in hobbies, forgetfulness, blurry vision and growth spurts especially in the hands and feet are all warning signs of a brain tumour
Mr Wade underwent five surgeries in total to treat the tumours
‘As soon as they pulled me out at the end, the whole body language of the nurses seemed different,’ he said.
He was told a consultant would see him, and during the five-minute wait he began accepting the idea of being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
But when he found out he had two tumours he felt hopeless. Mr Wade was diagnosed with two astrocytoma tumours, which are often aggressive.
One was classified as grade four—the size of a tennis ball—and another was a golf ball-sized growth in the middle of his brain.
‘Weirdly in my head, one would have been OK,’ he said. ‘But two … I just thought, I’m done. You know, if you’ve got two brain tumours, surely you just die.’
Doctors told Mr Wade he might have had the tumours for up to 20 years and his symptoms were caused when his brain ‘eventually just ran out of space’.
He was referred to UCL Hospital in London’s Queen’s Square and started having video calls about treatment by the end of the week.
Leading up to his surgery, doctors prescribed steroids to reduce inflammation in his brain, but they caused him to experience mania and paranoia when he was in hospital, resulting in him being held on a psychiatric ward for four days.
Mr Wade completed the London Marathon in an astonishing three hours and 16 minutes last month
In June, Mr Wade underwent an eight-hour surgery to remove his larger tumour and subsequently had to undergo another two-hour procedure to treat a bleed on the brain.
When he woke up from surgery, Mr Wade said he could not open his left hand or walk properly, so had to work with physiotherapists to regain his movement.
Re-learning to walk on his own made Mr Wade feel like running a marathon was a ‘million miles away,’ but he was able to walk within two days and run within a month.
In July he started chemotherapy, taking temozolomide pills once a month for six months.
But in the same month he developed an eye infection due to fluid leaking from his head, and underwent yet more surgery to treat it, as well as eight rounds of antibiotics.
Today, he still being treated for a recurring skin infection and month have scans every three months. While doctors say his condition is ‘life-limiting’, they aren’t sure on a firm prognosis.
Despite this, he feels ‘incredibly fit and healthy’.
So much so that Mr Wade completed the London Marathon this year in record time, in aid of the National Brain Appeal, just two months after his final surgery.
He said: ‘I kind of thought I was fit enough to get a personal best. So I was really pleased that it all went well and was my fastest ever marathon.’
‘I love a challenge, and I love a battle. One: I’m 41 and super fit, and two: I’m determined and we’re going to battle through it,’ he added.
