Partridge Green dad looks forward to a family Christmas he feared he would never see

Father-of-two Daniel Calver will never forget the Christmas he spent after being told, just days earlier, that it could be his last while undergoing gruelling treatment for multiple brain tumours.

Now having survived his ordeal, 35-year-old Daniel is looking forward to spending this festive season with his wife Natalie and children Sennen and Hayden.

He said: “This time four years ago was extremely difficult. I was already undergoing treatment for a brain tumour when another one was discovered. I was told that one was likely grade 4, which would have left me with a very uncertain future.

“I went into Christmas 2018 thinking it would be my last.”

Daniel, who is working with the charity Brain Tumour Research to share his story, was diagnosed with a grade 2 glioma in March 2018 after suffering an unconscious seizure.

He underwent an 11-hour awake craniotomy, after which he suffered temporary paralysis down his right side and became mute, requiring speech therapy.

He went on to have 30 sessions of radiotherapy and was supposed to have a further two of six rounds of chemo when another tumour was discovered and he was scheduled for surgery again.

His wife, Natalie, 34, said: “Because the other one grew whilst he was already having treatment, they said it was likely to be a grade 4 tumour. We found that out in the New Year and, when you’ve got a five-year-old and a 16-month-old at home, that’s not what you want to hear.”

With Daniel’s original tumour located in his right temporal lobe, initially surgeons were only able to remove 40 per cent of it. However, during his second surgery, not only did they remove all of his new tumour but they found his brain had pushed his original tumour up as it healed, enabling them to take a further 20 per cent of that one too.

Now Daniel is working part-time at a local butcher’s but is still being monitored with six-monthly scans.

He said: “I’m glad to be working again but having a part-time job means that times are tough and there’ll be fewer presents under the tree, but I’m sure others can relate to that and know that health and family are what matter most – that’s what we’ll be celebrating this Christmas.”

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Inspired by Daniel’s brain tumour journey, his 10-year-old daughter Sennen has raised thousands of pounds for Brain Tumour Research, taking part in the charity’s flagship Walk of Hope and Wear a Hat Day events, among others.

Her fundraising achievements and her commitment to raise awareness of the disease, led to her being honoured with a ‘PAW Patrol’ Chase Award for Leadership in October.

Natalie said: “We’re extremely proud of Sennen and everything she’s achieved in her fight against brain tumours.

"She doesn’t want other families to go through what we have, and that’s something we all admire.

"Her brother Hayden is only six but couldn’t have a better role model. We all have a lot to be grateful for this Christmas.”

To find out more about Brain Tumour Research, visit www.braintumourresearch.org