A mum whose teenage daughter died suddenly says it is "unbearable" to think she might lose her son too - after he was diagnosed with an "incurable" brain tumour. Madeline Siddall was just 15 when she suffered a sudden, fatal cardiac arrest - a death Anne Siddall, 55, is still coming to terms with.
And the mum was dealt a further devastating blow when son Archie Siddall, 24, was told he had a glioblastoma (GBM) in October last year. The young dad has had radiotherapy and chemotherapy and his family, from Eckington, Derbyshire, is taking each day as it comes.
Anne, a teacher, said: "It’s unbearable to think of losing another child. If I think about it too much, I go to a very dark place. We were told the tumour was incurable. We haven’t asked for a prognosis; we just didn’t want to go there.”
Anne and husband Craig, 58, a heating engineer, first noticed something was wrong with Archie in September 2022. She said: “When working together, Craig would ask Archie to fetch something from his van.
"But he would return empty-handed because he couldn’t remember what he’d been asked. Archie would ask me what was for tea, then two minutes later he would ask me again. It was like living with someone with Alzheimer’s.”
Archie, dad to Amelia, one, went to his GP and was told the problem were stress-related. But his symptoms didn't improve and he started getting severe headaches which left him unable to work as a labourer.
He went to A&E at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, where the family says he was told he had a migraine. But, after pushing for answers, the family were given the cancer diagnosis a month later.
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Anne said: “I just felt something more sinister was going on. Archie became extremely lethargic and just wanted to sleep all the time. He started to become confused and he was aggressive at times."
Craig took Archie back to hospital and managed to get a CT scan which showed a large mass on his brain which was a brain tumour. Anne said: “Surgeons at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield managed to remove around 50% of the tumour but were unable to take any more because it was so deep on his brain stem.
"Afterwards, we were told the tumour was a GBM which is the worst type you can get. I can’t believe he had this thing in his head and it took so long to find.”
Archie had six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Weston Park Cancer Centre in Sheffield. He is now on six cycles of tablet-form chemotherapy.
Anne said: “We’re trying to make memories with Archie and his little girl Amelia but Archie suffers from short-term memory loss so he struggles to remember what we’ve done. Other than that, we’re just taking each day as it comes but it’s not easy.”
Anne has now signed up to the Jog 26.2 Miles in May Challenge, to raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research and give her a new focus. Jog 26.2 Miles in May asks people to complete a marathon within a month - clocking up the miles at their own pace.
Anne said: “If the government funded research properly, we wouldn’t be in this situation. This challenge gives me a focus and if I can raise money to help, it’s worth it. I’ve been humbled by how generous people have been and the kindness of all those who have helped my family or came to visit Archie when he was in hospital, it’s heart-warming.”
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: “We’re really grateful to Anne for taking on the Jog 26.2 miles in May challenge 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 Archie who are forced to fight this awful disease.”
The jogging challenge, which is now in its third year, raises vital funds to help find a cure for brain tumours. Participants are asked to sign up via Facebook or JustGiving www.braintumourresearch.org/fundraise/jog-26.2-miles-in-may.
