A BRAIN tumour fighter diagnosed with a terminal disease says she is "honoured" after opening a new imaging academy at Edge Hill University.
Laura Mahon, who is originally from Great Sankey but lives in Lea Green, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) when she was 20 weeks pregnant in September 2021 after she woke up and couldn’t move her toes.
Doctors originally believed the baby was pressing on a nerve but she was sent to The Walton Centre for an MRI scan – which led to the discovery of the tumour.
Laura became very unwell when she was 27 weeks pregnant.
She and her husband Danny, 29, who are both former Great Sankey High School students, made the “toughest decision of their lives” and opted to bring their daughter into the world at 30 weeks.
On 30 November 2021, Sienna Grace Laura Mahon was born, weighing just 3.4lbs, at Warrington Hospital.
She was taken to the neonatal ward and placed in an incubator. Sienna developed pneumothorax - a collapsed lung – so was transferred to Royal Oldham Hospital to receive specialised care.
Despite not being well enough, Laura discharged herself from Warrington Hospital to be with Sienna.
Sienna is now doing great and at home with her devoted parents, and Laura is undergoing any treatment possible to try and give her the best chance of fighting the inoperable tumour.
Her story has been so inspiring that she was invited to officially open the new imaging centre at Edge Hill University.
Yesterday, Thursday, November 24 she did a talk in front of doctors, oncologists and surgeons to explain her experience of treatments and what she hopes can be done to improve the chances of brain tumour fighters.
As well as making memories with her family, Laura says her main focus is raising awareness of brain tumours and the need for more research.
The 30-year-old said: “It went amazing, sharing my story is upsetting and I couldn’t have done it a year ago, but as time has gone on I’ve learned to live with this diagnosis but more needs to be done.
“There is not enough research into brain tumours and my hope is by sharing my experience I can help others.
“The doctors came up to me after my talk and explained that me sharing my experience really opened their eyes to the patient’s point of view over things and the experience so that means a lot to me.
Laura’s tumour is currently stable after having chemotherapy and radiotherapy and she is having three monthly scans to keep an eye on the tumour.
The new imaging academy is a new multi-million-pound project created by a region-wide collaboration of universities and NHS trusts which aims to use cutting-edge facilities to train a world-class imaging workforce.
Laura is raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity, to donate go to justgiving.com/fundraising/lauraelizabethmahon
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