Dad's fight after brain collapses having huge tumour removed

The family of a man diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer tumour are desperate to be able to fund treatment so he can spend some more cherished time with his children and wife. The father-of-three is not prepared to give up hope, however the treatment he needs is at a private centre, in Germany.

Robin Elcock, 36 from the small village of Pennsylvania in South Gloucestershire, was first diagnosed with a grade two brain tumour in 2018. He had a craniotomy, to remove a seven centimetre tumour from his brain, and was given a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy soon after.

Regular scans and monitoring had shown the illness was stable, and so Robin went back to work on at Marshfield farm where he has been employed for over 20 years. Robin and his wife Aimee Elcock, 35, and their three children, Katie, 16, George, 13 and Arthur, nine, adjusted to how ife had changed for them all and continued on with their lives, not taking any day for granted.

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However in April 2023, Robin had brain scan which showed a tumour was showing signs of progression. A decision was made to start a course of chemotherapy from May through to October, and it was hoped the treatment would stop the tumour progressing. Following another scan, Robin was told the chemotherapy had not worked and a grade four tumour was developing.

Robin said: "It was the morning of January 13, a Saturday, and I was due to go on a run with my wife Aimee. I had a seizure and was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath. There I was told I had a brain tumour and my care was transferred to Southmead in Bristol.

"I had a craniotomy on January 22 and they removed the tumour and it was seven centimetres in diameter. I was told afterwards by the surgeons by brain had collapsed and they had never seen anything like it before.

"The operation did come with complications and I had a brain bleed. However I was able to come home from hospital on February 1 and I was back to work after five weeks."

Robin and his family continued to live each day at a time. Life carried on as normal with the children having their usual daily routines and Robin and Aimee going to work.

It was in April 2023 when Robin had a scan. The scan had showed signs of the illness progressing.

Robin said: "The scan had shown a tiny and low grade type growth had started to come back in my brain. I was given a round of chemotherapy so as to try and nip it in the bud.

"I said to the doctor how I felt the treatment had not worked. After pushing for a scan, it showed a new growth.

"Then in December 2023 I had another craniotomy to remove it. I am having two week course of radiotherapy and this means we have come to the point of the NHS are unable to do much more for me."

On December 14, Robin had the craniotomy to remove the tumour. However it has been determined, as the tumour is a complex grade four astrocytoma, the doctors feel they will not be able to cure Robin.

The Cancer Research UK website states: "Astrocytomas are a common type of brain tumours in both adults and children. They belong to a group of brain tumours called gliomas. The main treatments for astrocytomas are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy."

The family are fundraising so Robin can go to Germany for Dendritic Cell therapy. This is a type of immunotherapy that uses your immune system to fight cancer.

The family are hoping for Robin to have more time to spend with his children and family. The treatment is not believed to be able to cure the illness yet the family would love to have more time to make memories and cherish every moment they have still.

Wife Aimee said: "We have come to the end of the road with treatment the NHS can offer Robin. There is a place in Germany which can offer Robin immunotherapy which has given us hope.

"We are hoping to raise money for three treatments. The centre takes the blood and strips it back and gets the lymphocytes which go in and fight the illness.

"They call it the soldier where they strip back to the blood cell and send in an army of them to fight the illness. As soon as Robin is well enough after radio therapy, we can plan to go to Germany.

"This has been hard on the children, however they are doing really well. They are all processing everything in their own way, and we really would love to be able to give them more time with their father."

To donate and support Robin raise money for his treatment, please visit here.