A father claims doctors told his son to pop ibuprofen for his ‘teen migraines’ when it turned out to be an incurable brain tumour.
Stephen Hall, from Corby in Northamptonshire said his son Max, 14, suffered persistent headaches so severe he had to leave class to take painkillers in the nurse’s office for a year.
When he visited his GP in January 2025, he was referred to Kettering General Hospital in April that year.
There he was allegedly told he was suffering from normal ‘teenage migraines’ and advised to take ibuprofen.
But seven months after his hospital trip, he had a seizure at home on November 27 that year and was rushed back to hospital by ambulance.
En route, he suffered another seizure and was put on life support before being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre.
Initially doctors thought he had a viral infection, but on November 19th CT and MRI scans revealed he had a large tumour.
Sadly, due to its location, it couldn’t be operated on, so the family are fundraising for him to have cancer immune therapy in Germany.
A father has told of how his son, Max Hall [pictured] was told his headaches were normal for a year before being diagnosed with terminal cancer
Stephen Hall [pictured with his son] believes if his son’s headaches hadn’t been dismissed things could have been different
Due to the location of the tumour, it is inoperable, but the family are raising money for him to receive cancer immune therapy in Germany
A scan of the tumour
His father, Mr Hall said: ‘The tumour is really big, it’s been there a long time.
‘Words can’t describe the feeling, it’s like the most terrible dream. It feels like the worst nightmare, and you just want to wake up but you don’t, you’re living it.’
Of his son, he said: ‘He loves everyone and everyone loves him. Even in the hospital all the nurses loved him.
‘He has a wonderful circle of friends. He is one of the popular guys at school and loves people in general.
‘We just want the treatment to hurry up. This could be the best of what he is going to be for a while.’
The family are waiting on biopsy results to clarify the type of cancer he has, but it’s located in the part of the brain that’s responsible for communication, speech and memory.
‘We have noticed his short-term memory is getting bad and the nausea is setting in now,’ he said. ‘This morning he’s had two bouts of sickness already. He is constantly tired and has started slurring words now.
‘He’s still Max but he’s just a bit slower, it’s heartbreaking. He’s not like this, he’s usually really sharp.’
His family are still awaiting biopsy results to tell them what type of cancer he has
The 14-year-old is now presenting with short-term memory problems and nausea
His father described him as popular at school and the kind of person that loves everyone
He believes things would have worked out differently if his son’s headaches hadn’t been dismissed and he’d had scans sooner.
‘I just find it staggering that someone was complaining of headaches for almost a year and they didn’t offer a scan to rule out the worst-case scenario, which he’s got,’ he said.
‘The neurology specialist said that it was a big tumour and that it looked like it had been there a long time.
‘We were told in the hospital in Nottingham that if it had been picked up earlier, we could be having a totally different discussion than what we are having at the moment.
‘I am convinced that if they had scanned him there would’ve been something there.’
Despite this, Mr Hall said his son remains positive and brave.
He said: ‘We just really want as much help as we can for treatment for Max, but we also don’t want any other kids to be in this situation.
‘When you think it could’ve been avoided. It just seems totally wrong.
The University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group Medical Director, Hemant Nemade, said: ‘Our thoughts are with Max and his family at this unimaginably difficult time.
‘We are looking into the circumstances of his care with us to establish what happened in order to learn from this.’
It is estimated 13,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK each year, including 9000 children and young people.
Symptoms can include headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, behavioural changes and memory problems.
Progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body as well as vision and speech problems are other signs.