A brain tumour survivor wears her facial disfigurement as “a badge of honour”.
Courageous Maggie McMartin, 70, burst into tears when she saw the results of her “disaster surgery” following an operation to remove the tumour.
But 18 years later Maggie openly talks about her operation to raise awareness of brain tumours as she organises fundraising events for Brain Tumour Research.
Ahead of her latest Wear A Hat Day fundraiser on Friday Maggie spoke about her journey since being diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma in May 2005.
Maggie, from Port Charlotte on the Isle of Islay, said: “The operation to remove the tumour was a disaster because the surgeon cut through some nerves, which meant the left side of my face drooped and my eyes wouldn’t shut.
“When my daughter Fiona saw me, she was sick and said, ‘what have you done to my mum?’.
“It took me three days to look in the mirror and when I finally did, I broke down in tears. When my family came to see me, I saw the looks on their faces.”
Maggie, who is married to David, 76, is mum to Fiona, 40, Mairi, 43, and Calum, 45.
She started having dizzy spells and being sick in 1998 but her GP treated her for labyrinthitis, an inner ear infection which affects balance.
Six years later, while working in a call centre in Perth, Maggie realised there was something more seriously wrong when she kept asking people on the phone to repeat what they had just said.
She said: “I just couldn’t retain any information. At lunchtime, I felt so tired that I had to have a sleep in the car.
“When I returned to the centre, I couldn’t pick up my pen. I knew something was happening and I felt really scared.”
Maggie was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary where an MRI scan revealed a mass on her brain. She had the tumour removed at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee but needed surgery afterwards to lift her face. She is also now deaf in her left ear.
She said: “It took me a long time to accept what had happened to me but my family tell me my face is my badge of honour. “There’s not enough awareness of brain tumours and it is vital that more research is done to find a cure for this horrible disease.”
Maggie has raised more than £7,500 for Brain Tumour Research through her annual Wear A Hat Day events and coffee mornings she hosts at the Lochindaal Hotel in Port Charlotte.
The theme of this year’s event is to look super for science.
The event, during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, comes after Brain Tumour Research announced a £2.5 million funding agreement to help find a cure for the deadliest of all childhood cancers.
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: “We’re really grateful to Maggie for taking part in Wear A Hat Day as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like her who are forced to fight this awful disease.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.
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 the disease.
The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.
To donate to Maggie’s JustGiving page, visit: justgiving.com/page/margaret-mcmartin-1679488297087.
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