Man given 12 months to live with brain tumour after mistaking runny nose for flu
A 26-year-old from Warrington has been given just a year to live by doctors after they discovered a brain tumour inside him.
Kieran Shingler dismissed his symptoms early on, as he contended with what seemed like a standard headache, sore throat, and runny nose three years ago.
His health deteriorated though, leading to a fateful CT scan, which unveiled a fast-growing cancerous mass on the brain.
"When I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, I was scared, angry and always questioned why," he told the BBC.
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The poor lad first felt an illness upon him on the Bonfire Night of 2022, believing it to be coronavirus-related.
Kieran, a HGV driver, proceeded to take a Covid test, but this returned a negative result.
He and his girlfriend Abbie Henstock agreed that he'd simply caught the flu, yet when Kieran was unable to keep any food down, the pair were forced to take things a lot more seriously.
"He was so fit, he was doing a triathlon, working out, we just knew something wasn't right - this wasn't Kieran," said his other half.
Kieran's GP urged him to swing by Warrington Hospital and that's where he was dealt the crushing blow.
Having received this life-changing diagnosis, Kieran was transferred to Liverpool's Walton Centre for a quartet of operations.
Next came radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which actually shrank the tumour down, but this moment of light was eventually overshadowed by news that the mass had began growing again.
On December 29, 2022, just an hour ahead of Kieran's permanent shunt installation surgery, the Shingler family was sadly informed that he had a Grade 3 astrocytoma.
This, essentially, meant that their young loved one had 12 months.
"I couldn't have got through the past couple of years without the support of my friends and family but especially my mum and Abbie," Kieran went on to comment.
"They always made sure to put me before themselves and I will always be so grateful."
His girlfriend also shared: "At his most recent scan in June 2025, we were told his tumour had started to grow again."
Following this truly awful turn of events, Kieran, his family, and friends have raised over £52,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity.
According to the NHS, brain tumour giveaways often vary and are determined by which part of the brain is affected.
Headaches, seizures, persistent nausea, vomiting and drowsiness, mental or behavioural changes (such as memory problems), and vision and speech issues are all listed as common symptoms.
Dan Seddon