Man recalls terrifying moment his 'life changed forever' on first day of new job

Cameron Walker, 26, was diagnosed with a glioma brain tumour after he had a seizure during his first day at a new job - and has written a moving account of his life since

A man has recalled the terrifying moment he suffered a seizure on his first day at a new job - before being diagnosed with a glioma brain tumour.

Cameron Walker was just 24 when he suddenly lost consciousness and fell down at work. Now 26, the former Airbus employee from Broughton, Flintshire, has bravely shared his journey through extensive treatment, during which he moved in with his mum in Gwynedd, Wales.

In his own words, Cameron revealed how he's come to see his tumour as an integral part of himself and the lessons it's taught him. He said: "Everything changed on Monday, February 21, 2022. I was 24. On the first day of my new role as an operational excellence engineer at HelloFresh, a job for which I'd relocated across the country, I experienced a tonic-clonic seizure for the first time in my life.

"While being shown around the factory shop floor at about 11:30am, I suddenly lost consciousness and fell, hitting my head on a metal platform as I went down." "I have a vague recollection of frantic voices and being rushed to the first aid room. I was quickly transported to the local hospital by paramedics, where they conducted a head scan to ensure there was no internal bleeding from the impact", he added.

Doctors then discovered a lesion in a completely different part of Cameron's brain than where he had hit. He was immediately put on anticonvulsant medication, and was told he could no longer drive, reports Wales Online. After several MRI scans, the 24-year-old was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma brain tumour, located at the back of his left frontal lobe, embedded in the motor strip.

He said: "Every step I took was filled with the dread of having another seizure or experiencing some other horrific symptom yet to manifest itself. The anticonvulsant pills I take twice a day were, and continue to be, my only safeguard. It's probable that I'll need to take them for the rest of my life. How could this have happened to me?

"I lead an active lifestyle, maintain a healthy diet, and show no signs of cognitive impairment. I couldn't comprehend how I hadn't shown any symptoms at all, yet this abnormal cluster of cells had been slowly growing in my brain for years, possibly since birth or adolescence. I'll never know for sure."

Brain experts proposed for Cameron to undergo a debulking surgery - where they would aim to extract as much of the tumour as they could. But the tumour was located in a highly sensitive and crucial part of his brain. The left-side motor strip is responsible for all voluntary movement down the entire right side of the body, and Cameron is right-side dominant.

He said: "The safest route was to perform the operation while I was conscious. Incredibly, I found the bravery to undergo an awake craniotomy, which involves an anaesthetist sedating you to the point where you're conscious enough to follow instructions, but still in a daze.

"Then I experienced the second seizure of my life on an operating table with my brain exposed. The outcome was discovering that essentially my body is utilising the brain tumour for movement on the right side of my body. Therefore, the surgeons opted to leave it in place, so as not to paralyse me. They took samples which were dispatched to a lab for official diagnosis. The results verified my tumour to be a grade 2 astrocytoma."

For the next few days in hospital, Cameron experienced headaches, vomiting, another seizure and the constant temptation to touch the large C-shaped scar on his scalp. He also had to undergo adjuvant treatment, which aimed to stabilise his condition rather than cure it.

He said: "Throughout 2023, I battled with the chemo, but it's safe to say I came out on the losing end. All I wanted was to turn back the clock and resume my life before the brain tumour diagnosis - start my new job properly, move into my own flat, and live life as I had planned. That year, I battled fiercely to maintain a sense of normality. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to be sick, the chemo's toxicity scorching my veins as it was administered.

"The tumour remained, and since that fateful day in February, there had always been another battle to fight. Suddenly, there wasn't, and it felt strange. I felt like a soldier returning to civilian life after serving in a warzone.

"I joined a workshop for post-cancer treatment to address this unusual feeling, but ultimately, I just accepted it and went back to working full-time. Now that my treatment is complete, I'm scheduled for an MRI scan every six months as part of a "watch and wait" approach."

He added: "It then hit me, quite painfully, that ringing the chemotherapy bell didn't mean I could leave everything I've been through behind. This experience looms too large to be dismissed. I carry deep physical and emotional scars from everything that's happened since February 2022. I've realised that it's not just a matter of gritting my teeth and getting through a tough time, then finding peace."

Cameron says he learned that while he can't ignore the brain tumour, he also can't let it control him, adding: "What lies in the middle of those two things is coexistence. Acknowledgment. Acceptance. Everything changed for me that day in February, and I must find a way to coexist peacefully with a passenger in my brain that is ultimately a part of who I am, and who I've always been."