The family of a high-flying student diagnosed with terminal brain cancer following a routine eye test say they are 'beyond devastated' but 'trying to remain positive' as she battles at least six incurable tumours. Laura Nuttall, 19, from Lancashire who achieved straight As in her A levels last summer, was just weeks into an international relations degree at King's College University in London in October when she began to experience occasional headaches and nausea. She put her symptoms down to 'fresher's flu', but a routine eye test led to her being diagnosed with glioblastoma the most aggressive brain cancer in adults Now her mother Nicola is doing whatever she can to help Laura achieve her 'bucket list' including a trip to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert in Liverpool last month. On Laura's 19th birthday in December, she was a guest at Everton Football Club, where she met players including Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Nicola said: 'I'm trying anything I can think of to help keep Laura feeling positive. We're doing as much as we can to make the best possible memories.'
Laura initially put her symptoms down to 'fresher's flu' but when she applied to join the Royal Navy reserves, the eye test required for entry revealed unexplained swelling in her optic nerve. Laura was referred to Moorfields Eye Hospital, where doctors recommended further tests. But the following day, after she was violently sick, she called mum Nicola at home in Lancashire to ask for help. Nicola, 48, and her younger daughter Grace, 17, raced to London and took Laura straight to A&E that night. A 3 am CT scan at Homerton Hospital in Hackney revealed the devastating news that she had two brain tumours. The following morning, a more detailed MRI scan of Laura's brain identified several more. After an operation to remove the largest and most life-threatening growth on November 7th at Salford Royal Hospital, Laura and her family were told she had glioblastoma the most aggressive brain cancer in adults and the type which took the life of former Labour cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.
Nicola said: 'Laura had her whole life ahead of her. Now she is having to cope with the fact that her remaining life will be very short.'As a family, we are beyond devastated. We are trying to remain positive and looking into lots of alternative treatments and therapies – anything that will buy her a bit more time.'Laura underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy at The Christie Hospital in Manchester throughout December in an attempt to keep the remaining tumours at bay. She is due to embark on a further six-month course of intensive chemotherapy next month.
The family is also exploring whether Laura may be able to have experimental treatments such as DCVax, a type of personalised therapy made in the USA using some of an individual patient's own immune cells.The treatment hit the headlines last May when early findings from a clinical trial suggested it could increase overall survival from glioblastoma.The family are speaking about Laura's diagnosis through The Brain Tumour Charity to raise awareness of brain tumours, which kill more children and young adults in the UK than any other type of cancer.Nicola, who owns and runs a children's soft-play and party centre in Nelson, Lancashire, with her husband Mark, 56, said: 'Before Laura's diagnosis, none of us knew anything about brain tumours or how little is spent on research into this disease compared with many other cancers.
