A young Chester woman who survived a brain tumour will appear on national TV to talk about the importance of research into the disease.
This year marks seven years since Hannah Jones was first diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 15 when she was studying for her GCSEs at Christleton High School.
Her normal life as a teenager was turned upside down when she had to undergo three major brain operations and gruelling radiotherapy and had to undergo further life-saving treatment when the tumour re-appeared less than a year later.
Hannah, of Westminster Park, even suffered a stroke during her treatment, which left her unable to walk or feed herself.
But she defied the odds to make an astonishing recovery and went on to win awards for her courage and fundraising efforts for The Brain Tumour Charity - a cause for which she has raised more than £200,000 to help fund its pioneering brain tumour research.
Hannah, now 22, who graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in education last year, will appear on Sky News tomorrow morning (Wednesday, August 19) talking about the importance of brain tumour research.
She told The Chronicle: “I had to go to London to pre-record my TV appearance and I got my hair and makeup done which I was giddy about!
“I basically speak to the camera about raising awareness for the Brain Tumour Charity which I’m an ambassador for. Every now and then I travel to Farnborough for meetings with the charity, which I did on the way back from London this time.
“Brain tumours claim the lives of so many people in the UK but research is the most poorly funded of all cancers. I am passionate about the need for more brain tumour research but I’ll carry on fundraising and talking about brain tumour research until I can’t do it anymore.”
Hannah added: “Since brain cancer is the biggest cancer killer in the UK, you’d think the government would be throwing money at it. However, I have had a visit from Chester MP Chris Matheson who is lovely and is very keen to support research into brain cancer.”
As for her health, Hannah says she’s ‘doing alright’ and is putting all her focus on getting a well-paid job.
“I’m doing agency work at the moment but I’m on the lookout for a job where I can earn a bit more money. I still fundraise as much as I can for the charity by doing various activities like bucket collections,” she said.
You can see Hannah’s appearance on Sky News at 6.20am on Wednesday and again at 8.50am.
