'The doctor thought I had an ear infection - it was a brain tumour'

When marathon runner Greig Frankland-Wilkinson suddenly started feeling dizzy and constantly tired, he went to his GP, who suspected he had picked up an ear infection while on his holidays.

But the fatigue and unsteadiness continued and by the spring of the next year scans revealed the devastating news he had a brain tumour, and although not life-threatening doctors told him the benign growth is likely to be severely debilitating for the rest of his life.

The super-fit maths teacher, 41, from Sale, wasn't about to let his condition spoil his stride, however, and on Sunday he will take part in the Manchester Marathon - his tenth marathon.

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He told the Manchester Evening News: "I started getting symptoms in 2018 with my vision spinning and I was falling into walls and things. I was just always tired and yawning all the time.

"I just thought it was a bit odd, how I was feeling. I was doing so well at the time with my running. I had just managed to go under 20 minutes for the 20k, 19 minutes and 53 seconds. I was all ready to push on from there, but by the following May I had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

"Socially, I just felt off. I was being withdrawn in myself. I just didn't feel right but could just not put my finger on what it was. They looked in my ear and they thought it was just an infection I'd picked up on holiday. A few months later my eyes started moving in an odd way and I started having dizzy spells and they sent me for an MRI scan.

"They said if you don't hear anything, it's fine. I went for the scan in January 2019 and I didn't hear anything. Then I got a text message from Salford Royal Hospital for an appointment with neuro surgery."

The scans revealed a benign, 8mm brain tumour in the cranial nerve from his left ear to his brain and by May he was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma (a benign brain tumour). By last year it had grown to 12mm.

Eventually, Greig will either undergo surgery to remove it or 'radio surgery' to shrink it. The tumour isn't life-threatening but doctors have told him eventually it's likely he'll lose the hearing in his left ear.

He said: "I'm quite a positive, cheery person, but I do get really tired and severe fatigue. I have tinnitus in my left ear. I don't sleep very well. I can feel a bit unsteady on my feet. When I run, I actually find it easier. You have distractions when you are running. It's when I am walking around with people around and I don't have a reference point to get my balance. The feeling of fatigue is the worst thing. And if there are more than two people speaking, I find it difficult to tell what people are saying."

Greig, who is a maths teacher at Stockport Grammar School, said: "The kids are school are really good. They are really respectful actually. I tell them I don't mind them talking about the maths, but if it's anything else maybe don't say that."

After his diagnosis, Greig joined The Dragons Running Club in Sale who 'have been really supportive'.

Greig, who is married to Owen, said: "When you are tired, the last thing you want to do is go for a run. But actually going for a run seems to re-boot the system. We meet on a Tuesday and Thursday and if I don't go every week it's not the end of the world."

On Sunday. Greig will run the Manchester Marathon, which will be his tenth marathon - a run he knows will be emotional as well as gruelling. He is running it to raise money for the British Acoustic Neuroma Association (BANA) which has given him and others invaluable support.

"Every time I run a marathon, it's really quite emotional. That person I was before is still there and that brain tumour is trying to stop me. It's about trying to prove it wrong, that I can still do these things," said Greig, who knows the course will leave him 'wiped out'.