A professional footballer has revealed the strange and innocuous sign that she was suffering from a fatal brain tumour.
Amy Carr, from Hemel Hempstead in Bedfordshire, suddenly collapsed in her bedroom aged 24, after seeing a spider.
But paramedics, who were called to her home, wrongly told the former England soccer player that the episode was caused by her terror at the sight of the eight-legged creature.
Only after the woman, now 33, fainted twice at the gym did she seek further medical attention.
An MRI showed he had a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain.
Despite a successful operation to remove the growth, the surgery left her unable to walk or even talk for eight days.
When she regained her speech, the personal trainer was temporarily only able to communicate using her GCSE French which she had learned years earlier.
Mrs Carr, who was playing professional football in Norway at the time, is now in remission after extensive chemotherapy, radiotherapy and physiotherapy.
Amy Carr, from Hemel Hempstead in Bedfordshire, suddenly collapsed in her bedroom after seeing a spider.
But paramedics, who were called to her home, wrongly told the former England footballer that the episode was caused by her terror at seeing the eight-legged creature.
Recalling his terrifying experience, he said: “It (the spider) had never reacted that way to anything before.”
“I knew I didn’t like spiders, but fainting seemed like an extreme response; normally I wouldn’t faint just from seeing one.”
He added: “I knew the risks involved with the surgery, I was warned that I could die or suffer life-changing injuries.” For a week afterward I couldn’t walk or talk.
‘The first time I spoke was in response to the nurses asking me how I was.
‘I responded with my French GCSE C grade of comme ci, comme ça (sort of).
“Everyone was baffled. I guess my French finally came in handy.
“The next day I spoke English again.”
Brain tumors are the biggest cancer that kills children and adults under 40 years of age.
Only after the woman, now 33, fainted twice at the gym did she seek further medical attention. An MRI showed he had a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain.
After your diagnosis. Carr said surgeons told him he had a 5 percent chance of dying from the tumor. The operation also had a 45 percent chance of leaving her paralyzed and a 45 percent chance of making a full recovery, he said.
It is estimated that at least one million Americans and 88,000 Britons are living with a cancerous brain tumor.
In the UK, more than 12,000 people are diagnosed each year, approximately 33 each day.
But more than 5,300 people lose their lives each year from a brain tumor.
They reduce life expectancy by an average of 27 years (the highest among all types of cancer), according to The Brain Tumor Charity, and only 12 percent of adults survive five years after diagnosis.
Common signs may include headaches, vision changes, seizures, nausea and dizziness, tiredness, and loss of taste and smell.
However, many symptoms can also be caused by other diseases, making tumors more difficult to detect.
After your diagnosis. Carr said surgeons told him he had a 5 percent chance of dying from the tumor.
The operation also had a 45 percent chance of leaving her paralyzed and a 45 percent chance of making a full recovery, he said.
She said: ‘When it came to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, nothing could prepare me for its brutality.
‘At first, I vomited 27 times in two days. “It got better but it was difficult.”
The tumor also caused changes in his personality and coordination, he added.
“Now I’m more direct and I have to think more carefully about what I say, and I get a lot more tired than before,” she said.
“Before I could kick and throw a ball from the goal to the halfway line, now I can’t.”
