A paramedic couple who have worked through the pandemic are asking people to support a cancer charity after their son was diagnosed with a brain tumour, for the second time.
Matthew Pullan, 19, was first diagnosed with a brain tumour at just three-years-old.
He lost his mum Claire, 36, to breast cancer a few years later.
Despite all this, Matthew recovered and is currently working towards his A-Levels as he aims to get to university.
But this year has been perhaps the toughest of his life.
As his dad Gary and stepmum - also called Claire - worked on the frontline through the pandemic, Matthew started to suffer headaches.
A checkup at The Christie revealed a brain tumour - completely unlinked to the one that afflicted him as a child.
After surgery last July, Matthew’s high-grade brainstem tumour is being managed with radiotherapy and chemotherapy at The Christie in Withington.
Now, with the help of his family, the Bury College pupil has decided to put everything he can into raising money for the charity Brain Tumour Research .
“It’s been a really tough time for all of us,” Matthew said.
“We were all devastated when we discovered I had another brain tumour but Dad was particularly shaken, having lost my mum to cancer eight years ago.
“We are a tight-knit family and all feel that we are in it together and will support each other through these difficult times.”
Claire, 43, says she is incredibly proud of Matthew.
Explaining how his tumour was spotted she says: “He had just been getting a few headaches, but it was hot so I was asking if he’d been drinking enough water.
“He’s a runner and he kept tripping up, but he’s always been quite clumsy anyway.
“He was going to The Christie for his check-up and the assessment was fine. The doctor said they would do an MRI scan just to be sure and that’s when they found a 4cm tumour. It was a massive shock.”
Gary, Claire and Matthew - along with his twin brother Alex, brother Mark, 15, and stepbrother Samuel, 12 - are all helping Brain Tumour Research celebrate its Wear A Hat Day campaign.
The charity is paying tribute to key worker families, like the Pullans, who have played a pivotal role throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“Matthew gets a lot out of trying to do things for other people which is why he’s encouraged us to do this fundraising with him,” Claire says.
“He wants to raise awareness of Brain Tumour Research and money so they can continue to help other people. He’s amazing.
“Matthew is an inspirational young man; we are so very proud of him and despite knowing the limitations of his condition, Matthew also wants to raise awareness to help others who are diagnosed with this devastating illness.”
In September last year, Matthew’s twin Alex completed a six-week, 5k-a-day running streak to coincide with his brother’s daily radiotherapy treatment.
The boys raised more than £15,500 for Brain Tumour Research - the equivalent of the amount it costs to fund five-and-a-half days of research at one of the charity’s Centres of Excellence .
“There are no guarantees that clinical trials and treatments will continue to be available for Matthew as his disease progresses, not least because his specialists are not even sure of his exact tumour-type,” Claire says.
“When we were asked by the charity to get involved in this campaign, we were really keen, as raising awareness for vital research is so important to us.”
Gary, 41, and Claire both work for the North West Ambulance Service and have both appeared on the BBC’s Ambulance documentary series.
The couple have been exceptionally busy during the pandemic, like all frontline staff.
But Claire says it’s a privilege to work during this difficult time.
“We feel very humbled but lucky to be working as key workers during the pandemic,” she says.
“With the country in lockdown and many people living in isolation, we are privileged to be able to go to work, see our colleagues and be there for our patients.”
Claire says taking patients to hospital and having to leave family at home has been the most difficult part of the work.
“Our job and it’s not really changed,” she says. “It has been busy, but the worst part has been taking people in with Covid and not having families with them. That’s awful.
“When you go with someone elderly whose husband of 50 years wants to go with them and they can’t, that’s hard. Having to tell them ‘sorry but you can’t’ - that’s awful. We’ve had people begging to come in.”
Speaking about the start of the pandemic, Claire remembers helping a young girl from China.
“In January last year we were getting quite a lot of people talking about this new bug coming from China,” she says.
“We were in the back of the ambulance wearing gloves, masks and aprons and some people were very ill.
“I remember we were transferring a lady from Hope Hospital to the infectious diseases at North Manchester. She had come from China and her housemate had tested positive.
“We had to put the Level 3 PPE on. Suddenly you think ‘how deadly is this virus?’. Now we’re putting it on a couple of times a week and we’ve become very used to it. But the first time was odd.
“This poor girl was petrified. It turned out she was okay, but it was a reality check. It was scary at first.”
Both Gary and Claire have had coronavirus - though neither suffered serious symptoms.
“In November we both came down with it. I started with a tickly cough,” Claire says.
“I thought ‘you’re havin a laugh’. I went to get a test and it came back positive.
“Then Gary had it too. I was only ill for about 24 - 36 hours. I had a temperature, was achy and tired. Gary lost his sense of smell and taste but had no other symptoms.
“And the kids had tests but didn’t have it."
It’s rare these days that Gary and Claire end up on a shift together, but when they do they work very well.
“We get on better at work than at home! We have a good laugh.”
The Pullans posed for photographers at Venture Studios, in Stockport, to create portraits to promote Wear A Hat Day - which has raised more than £2 million to help fund the fight against the disease.
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet.
But just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.
Brain Tumour Research is the only UK charity focused on finding a cure for brain tumours through sustainable research at dedicated centres.
It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments and find a cure.
Chief executive Sue Farrington Smith MBE says the pandemic has hit charity funds with £250,000 less than hoped being raised last year.
“Despite the challenges of the first lockdown, we were amazed by our dedicated supporters who still came up with inventive ways to take part,” she says.
“It’s so touching to see people like the Pullans once again embracing Wear A Hat Day, one year on from the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK. We thank them not only for their support but for all they’ve done for their community working on the frontline during the pandemic.”
To register to take part in Wear A Hat day visit www.wearahatday.org
