'The doctor thought I had an ear infection - it was a brain tumour'
11.04.2024 - 17:23
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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 I was being withdrawn in myself.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