Teenager whose headaches were blamed on heatwave diagnosed with rare form of brain cancer
A 14-year-old girl whose headaches and vomiting were first blamed on the hot weather has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
Annabell Robinson became unwell in June 2026 when her parents initially put her symptoms down to the scorching heatwave and having the same stomach bug as her siblings.
After a phone call consultation with the GP, mum Leah Robinson, 40, was advised to take Annabell for an eye test. The next week, she developed double vision and her right eye started to visibly turn in.
Annabell was subsequently taken to Kettering General Hospital, where scans found a five-centimetre tumour in the centre of her brain.
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She was transferred to Oxford University Hospital for Children, where doctors carried out a biopsy and fitted a shunt to drain fluid.
On 2 July, they confirmed she had diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a rare brain tumour that cannot be cured or safely removed because it grows through important parts of the brain.
Soon after, Annabell developed an E. coli meningitis infection linked to the shunt, meaning doctors had to replace it while treating the infection.
Once she has recovered, she will move to University College London Hospital for six weeks of radiotherapy.
“This is all three weeks, you can see how quickly things progressed. From my perspective, I generally thought it was a bit of hot weather and maybe she needed glasses,” her father James MacLeod, 37, said.
“Leah rang me and I was in the middle of Liverpool and she told me that Annabell had a five-centimetre tumour.
“Everything just seemed to stop. I fell to the floor and I couldn't believe it.
“We drove straight from Liverpool to Oxford. And I've been here ever since. It has just happened so fast.”
When the girl’s mother asked the oncologist how long Annabell had left, James recalled them giving her a few months.
Targeted radiotherapy after the infection has cleared is Annabell’s ‘only chance’ of slowing the tumour and easing symptoms.
“But also, because of where it's positioned, if they were to even try to remove that, Annabell wouldn't live,” James added.
“She would, as the doctor said, die on the table.”
James says Annabell was ‘a very happy, chilled, healthy child’ before her illness.
“I just want families and parents to be a little bit more aware," he said.
“Take persistent headaches or visions or vomiting a little bit more seriously and push and push.
“Don't feel like you can be hard off with different reasonings. We just want to try and spread awareness.
“Annabell is definitely fighting strong. She's definitely a fighter, she hasn't given up yet.”
People wishing to support Annabell can donate via her JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dolores-walton?utm_medium=CF&utm_source=CL
Anish Vij