A LOVING daughter has told of how her mum has been left with ‘no short-term memory’ due to an ongoing battle with a brain tumour.

Alisha Wilson, an assistant teacher at Dalmarnock Primary School, was amongst the thousands who took on the 23-mile Glasgow Kiltwalk last month in an effort to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research.

Having raised an impressive £2500 for the charity to date, Alisha knows just how much good the donation will do having witnessed her mother Gillian’s struggle first-hand.

Glasgow Times:

She said: “I don’t think my legs have ever been so tired, but it was so worth it.

"This is a cause that’s really close to my heart.

“Who knows where my mum would be if it wasn’t for all of the research that has already been done?

“If we can get funding for more research, then maybe others don’t need to go through what mum has.”

Gillian, 53, was first diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma brain tumour in May 2010 after she began feeling forgetful at times and suffered from strong headaches and dizziness.

During a visit to the Southern General Hospital (which has since been replaced by the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital) in Glasgow an MRI scan revealed a mass behind her pituitary gland.

Glasgow Times:

Alisha continued: “I was 11 at the time and didn’t have a clue what was going on.

"Mum was in the hospital for weeks, and I wasn’t allowed in to see her.

“It was heart-breaking because I’m very close to mum.

“I asked the nurses ‘Is mum going to die?’ but they reassured me that they were doing their best.”

Expert surgeons were able to remove most of the tumour by the next month and Gillian was said to be doing well until the following September.

However, when she found herself becoming forgetful once more, it was discovered that the tumour had grown back and filled with fluid - requiring an operation to insert a shunt.

Since then, the brave mum has endured 10 further operations as well as a bout of radiotherapy that resulted in total hair loss.

Glasgow Times:

Alisha said: “It has left mum with lots of serious health matters, including two types of diabetes because her pituitary gland was removed.

“She now has no short-term memory at all.

“It’s crazy, she can tell you anything that happened before her first operation, but she couldn’t tell you what she had for dinner two hours ago.”

Determined to do her part in aiding Brain Tumour Research, Alisha has shared her story in the hopes of raising awareness of this ‘devastating disease’.

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re so proud of Alisha for successfully completing the Glasgow Kiltwalk.

“We’re really grateful as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Gillian who are forced to fight this awful disease.”

Find Alisha's fundraising page here.