Sheffield boy with brain tumour had to be rushed to hospital after blacking out and collapsing

Jake Tindale, 17, who lives in Sheffield, blacked out and collapsed in December 2020 and was rushed to Sheffield Children’s Hospital. At the time he was only 15 and Jake was told he had an astrocytoma brain tumour. He had to undergo a seven-hour operation to remove the tumour and an MRI scan 12 weeks later gave him the all clear.

Mark Tindale, 44, Jake’s father, said: “That moment will remain with us forever. We were inconsolable, and we couldn’t process those unbearable words. We were utterly petrified at the thought of what our son was about to go through. It was like Jake was re-born again and it made me realise how life can change so quickly.”

Both Jake and Mark are working with Brain Tumour Research this Christmas to raise money by joining thousands of other people across the UK in Wear A Christmas Hat Day on December 16. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours.

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re really grateful to Mark and Jake for taking part in our annual Wear A Christmas Hat Day. This is a great way of bringing everyone together for festive fundraising events at school, work, or in your community.

He added: "This raises vital money which will progress our research into brain tumours which will improve the outcome for patients like Jake who are forced to fight this awful disease.”

Mark described how “memories still come flooding back” every December and said it is “always a very emotional time”.

To donate to the Justgiving page, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-tindale4.