A young reporter at a regional daily has described her fight against a life-threatening brain tumour which was discovered during a routine eye test.

Ellen Beardmore, left, a journalist at Sheffield daily The Star, is now recovering after undergoing 12-hour surgery to remove a large benign tumour in her brain.

The tumour was picked up on after she had an eye test at Boots, when optician Samantha Ahmed referred her for urgent hospital scans because she had swollen optic nerves and her prescription had changed dramatically.

In an article for the paper, 25-year-old Ellen wrote about her feelings on being diagnosed and having to undergo surgery to remove the acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumour on the acoustic nerve which affects 20 in every million people.

She wrote: “When a doctor first gave me that horrifying diagnosis, rushing back with the abnormal results of a CT scan, my world seemed to fall apart.

“Profound shock is the only way to describe my reaction. Sobbing and crying soon followed.

“Looking at the scan results was proof – the large tomato-sized benign tumour did actually exist, and it was causing a life-threatening build-up of brain fluid. But the news just would not sink in.

“It didn’t that first sleepless night, or while saying emotional goodbyes to my family from a surgical trolley, and it probably never will.

“The shock was greater because the only previous symptoms I’d experienced were three mild headaches and an occasional rushing in the ears, signs I put down to tiredness.

“I even had to be reluctantly convinced that my swollen optic nerves, spotted by an optician at Boots, really required an urgent trip to hospital – and that it was more important than going to work.”

Ellen, who joined The Star from the Derbyshire Times last year, underwent a 12-hour operation at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital to remove the tumour, performed by consultant neurosurgeon Thomas Carroll and his team.

A remnant of the tumour was left behind to preserve the function of a facial nerve and she will undergo precise radiation therapy next year to treat this.

She wrote: “Discharge from hospital took only a week, and the only permanent side effect has been losing my hearing on one side – a side effect with this type of tumour as it is on the acoustic nerve.

“My experience has revealed a large number of people affected by brain tumours in Sheffield alone – some of whom kindly shared their stories.

“Yet most of all it has shown how very fortunate I am. Living minutes away from a hospital which provided the very best of care, and which is a leader in neurology, meant the problem was dealt with quickly.

“Amazing support from friends, family and colleagues has helped to keep the bad times brief.  And, to have been diagnosed thanks to a simple eye test – and the dedication of optician Samantha Ahmed, seems like nothing less than a miracle. Thanks to having a brain tumour I feel like I am the luckiest person in the country.”

Her full article can be read here.