A Dunblane teenager who has battled back from surgery on a rare brain tumour hit the heights for a special challenge to raise money for more research.
Finn Clarke, 15, was first diagnosed with the benign craniopharyngioma tumour on Hogmanay 2019 following an MRI after suffering from months of tiredness and then a blindspot in his eye.
The Dunblane High pupil underwent three brain surgeries - with the last of those coming in December 2021.
But the drama wasn’t over there for Finn as it was confirmed last year that the tumour had returned.
Friends and family raised thousands to send Finn to Manchester for specialist proton therapy. The charitable efforts included superfit mum Val Storrie - the parent of one of Finn’s friends - taking on a gruelling ultra-marathon around Arran to raise more than £3,500.
The family now hope the worst of things may be behind them and despite Finn still living with fatigue owing to the tumour, the keen rock climber decided to take on the challenge of abseiling the Falkirk Wheel to raise funds for research.
Finn’s mum Susan said: “He is just such a great kid and he never moans about anything; he sometimes gets a little down with the fatigue and not keeping up with weekend activities on a school trip or the BBs but never too much.
“He has had two clear MRIs now and the tumour is not growing so that is good news and we are hoping that is it stabilised.
“The tumour does a lot of damage and it has wiped out his pituitary gland so his body doesn’t produce hormones and adrenaline, so he needs to take medication for growing, sleeping and everything a body does really.
“It means he might go rock climbing on a Saturday but then it will be a down day on Sunday and that’s tough because before it all, he was completely feral with energy so it’s all about managing things.”
Finn’s scaling of the iconic Falkirk landmark, was part of wider fundraising events.
Susan said: “Finn did amazing and he got amazing support from everyone. He’s managed to raise around £3,490 plus Gift Aid so that’s going to be just about £4,000 in the end so he has done really well.”
