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Emre Erulkeroglu, seven years old, had been going through months of painful headaches and failed medical diagnoses that both his family and doctors had been scrambling around trying to figure out what’s happening with him, the Mirror reports.
A few months later, after doctors informed Emre’s parents that they couldn’t see anything alarming with him, Emre drew a giant black spot on an Etch-A-Sketch pad that related to his excruciating headache. That’s when his mom, Tiffani, gave it another try and had him see a doctor again.
Then, after a new brain scan was conducted, Emre was given a diagnosis regarding a fatal brain tumor. It all started in Mother’s Day two years ago.
Tiffani said, “Within minutes he was lying in a drowsy state on the sofa but was screaming in pain every time he vomited. We took him to A&E where his headache disappeared due to the vomiting and we were told to go home as they thought it was just a migraine.”
After the MRI Scan, Emre’s family was informed that Emre had a benign cyst on his pineal gland. However, that wasn’t really where his problems are coming from. After taking him back to the hospital again, Emre was diagnosed with an inoperable cystic tumor.
Since then, Emre had multiple treatments such as a lumbar puncture and an endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Tiffany said, “It took three months of me pleading to get a diagnosis but he's here, stable and getting on with life."
Emre is still fighting through the sickness.
She continued, “We know from our own experience how important it is for doctors and parents to recognize when a child might have a brain tumor. HeadSmart has had an impact already but there are still too many people out there who don’t spot the warning signs.”
“I can’t thank the HeadSmart campaign enough for allowing me to push on with the diagnosis.”
Hayley Epps, campaign manager for The Brain Tumor Charity, said, “Brain tumors kill more children in the UK than any other type of cancer. HeadSmart has two aims: to save lives and reduce long-term disability by bringing down diagnosis times.
“Relaunching the campaign will help us to achieve those goals by alerting more healthcare professionals, parents and young people to the signs and symptoms of the disease. Emre’s story shows very clearly why HeadSmart is so important. We are very grateful to his family for their support.”
