Opticians noticed something wrong during a routine eye appointment after a dad began to see "black orbs".
Dad-of-two Matt Voice, 40, struggled with dizziness from the age of 32 and was increasingly concerned when he began to suffer headaches and vision problems. After collapsing on a customer's driveway in April 2020, he was rushed to hospital in West Sussex but was told it was due to high blood pressure.
But the blackouts and excruciating headaches continued until he booked himself an appointment at the opticians. After noticing swollen optic nerve heads, he was referred to an eye clinic when subsequent tests showed he had astrocytoma glioma - a type of brain cancer.
READ MORE: Teenager was racially abused and chased before he stabbed two men in city centre
Matt, who used to work as technical mobile mechanic and is dad to Mason, 11, and Darcy, 15, said: "If I hadn’t pushed for my optician appointment I wouldn’t be here today. It didn’t sink in when they told me I had brain cancer. I wasn’t expecting it at all.
"It’s been hard for my children to see me like this, I’m still their dad but I look different. They have seen me have a seizure which no kid should have to see."
Matt had a partial craniotomy, to remove 70% of the tumour on one side of his brain, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy and his cancer is now under control. He suffers with short term memory loss and struggles with his mobility and co-ordination which has seen him close his business and move back with his mum, Bev Gargate, 64, a part-time nurse.
The West Sussex dad added: "It’s frustrating now that I forget things, even what day or month it is. Now it’s just a waiting game to see if the tumour will grow.
"But I'm so glad I went to Specsavers, that appointment may well have saved my life. I was driving and had to pull over because my vision just went all blurry and I felt sick.
"But doctors kept saying it was my blood pressure. As my eyesight was getting worse, I pushed to get an optician's appointment. It nearly got cancelled because of Covid but I pushed to go."
Shortly after his diagnosis, Matt began suffering from seizures and the "light would go out" in his eyes. Speaking about his gruelling treatment, he said: "I lost all my hair, and I could see the children looking at me differently.
"I’m still their dad but I can’t do anything with them anymore. It’s changed everything."
Matt’s cancer is now under control, but the tumour is likely to grow, which means he'll likely need further treatment. Going from working as a mechanic to needing the full support of his mum, the 40-year-old said it was "frustrating".
He said: "It’s horrible waiting for the results of the MRI to see if it has grown. I just have to pray it hasn’t each time. I’m just glad I went to the opticians when I did - otherwise I don’t think I’d be here for my children."
Denis Youngman, a director optometrist at Specsavers’ Worthing store, added: "Matthew came to visit us in 2020, during the first lockdown. He complained of a number of odd symptoms, which had led to an A&E admission a few days earlier.
"A&E made a referral to routine referral to neurology, which would have had him waiting weeks. However, I felt his case warranted an urgent in-store examination.
"During the examination I found his vision to be reduced and, more importantly, the optic nerve heads in both eyes appeared to be swollen. This was highlighted on one of the two OCT machines we have in store. As a result, I referred him immediately to the eye department in Southlands Hospital.
"Many of these cases turn out to be benign intra-cranial pressure, however Matthew called to inform me that it was a brain tumour and urgent surgery was planned. He booked in to see me recently and you can imagine how pleased I was to see Matthew making a good recovery."
Symptoms
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, common symptoms include:
- Headaches
- Changes in vision
- Seizures
- Nausea and dizziness
- Tiredness
- Loss of taste and smell
READ NEXT:
Thug broke wife's back in vicious assault then refused to take her to hospital
Boy, 15, dies after being 'pinned down and stabbed' outside school
Locksmith's warning after seeing rise in 'new burglary trick' that 'takes seconds'
Four warning signs as cases of Victorian disease surge across UK
'Caring' woman, 23, dies after falling from nightclub fire escape
