Student Megan Thompson's Brain Tumour Misdiagnosed As 'Being Homesick'

A student who suffered crippling migraines, caused by a life-threatening brain tumour, was told by doctors she was simply homesick.

Despite Megan Thompson repeatedly attending hospital complaining of "horrendous headaches" medics continued to dismiss her telling the Leeds Metropolitan student she was "stressed or partying too hard".

"They dismissed it and said I was homesick.

"I couldn't cut my food up and I couldn't walk properly," the 20-year-old said. "It was then I knew something was desperately wrong."

It medics took more than two months to discover the golf ball-sized tumour. Thompson, who was 18 at the time, was finally diagnosed with medulloblastoma - a malignant primary brain tumour.

After having emergency surgery, followed by both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Sunderland-born Thompson is now urging others to check for the signs.

"It can save lives," she said.

Thompson's warning comes a day after the Teenage Cancer Trust revealed a quarter of young people who visited GPs with cancer had to return four times or more before their symptoms were taken seriously.

The Trust's researchers said their findings highlight "the serious issue of delayed diagnosis" in the age group.