'Phenomenal' Exmouth mum given devastating news after seizure

A "phenomenal" mum from Devon is trying to fight an aggressive brain tumour by overhauling her lifestyle. The former barber from Exmouth has said she wants to show "that whatever life throws at you, you work with it, you fight it, you give it your all".

In February, 38-year-old Charlie Gilmour from Exmouth collapsed after having a seizure and was taken to hospital after her teenage daughters dialled 999. During a brain scan, doctors found a tumour, which was later diagnosed as a stage four glioblastoma.

According to The Brain Tumour Charity, glioblastomas are fast-growing, aggressive tumours with a survival times that are short on average. Charlie's cousin Jaimie Jones told DevonLive that the mum-of-two has sadly been given a "pretty poor prognosis".

Jaimie says that her cousin was also told that chemotherapy would be "pretty pointless" as the treatment wouldn't be able to shrink the tumour faster than it grows. Charlie has instead chosen to overhaul her lifestyle with something called the Gerson regime. The plan involves a vegetarian diet, vitamin and mineral supplements and coffee enemas, which some believe can help to treat cancer.

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Jaimie said: "She was advised that chemotherapy, although it was an option, was pretty pointless because the growth rate of the tumour far exceeds the shrinkage rate that chemotherapy would provide. It would also eat into any quality of life that she has remaining.

"She's been incredibly positive, saying she's going to beat this and fight this for her children. She wants to show them that whatever life throws at you, you roll your sleeves up and you fight it hard.

"She's trying to do something positive, rather than do nothing and she's having really good results. She's been having a lot more good days than bad days."

This week, the tumour has started to impact the part of the brain that affects speech, meaning Charlie has been less able to speak. But she is still looking to the future and planning to take part in a fire walk with her 13-year-old daughter next month, when they will walk barefoot over hot coals at the Gone Wild event at Powderham Castle.

Jaimie describes her cousin as "phenomenal", saying she is wanting to show her children to fight "whatever life throws at you".

Jaimie said: "In the last couple of days, the part of the brain that controls the speech seems to have degraded quite significantly. She's just working with whatever she's got.

"She's going to accompany her daughter on 25th August at Gone Wild at Powderham Castle and she's going to be doing a fire walk. Her words were 'I want to show my children that whatever life throws at you, you work with it, you fight it, you give it your all'. She's phenomenal."

Since becoming ill, Charlie, a former barber, has been unable to work. Her family and friends have set up a GoFundMe, as well as distributing collection 'Charlie's Army' buckets to more than 20 businesses in the Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton area, which they say will help support her in keeping up with her lifestyle changes.

Jaimie said: "We've been absolutely astounded by people's kindness and generosity. It's just mind blowing. We just want to do everything we possible can so that Charlie can continue with the plan that she's on and try to keep her around as long as possible."

The GoFundMe can be found here and the Charlie's Army Facebook page can be found here.