Mum who lost son to brain tumour will campaign with charity at Holyrood
Nadia Majid lost her son Rayhan to the disease when he was only 4 years old
A mum from Airdrie, who lost her four-year-old son to cancer, will be campaigning at the Scottish Parliament today with the charity Brain Tumour Research.
The group will be asking a question to Nicola Sturgeon at FMQs and highlighting the charity's flagship fundraiser, Wear A Hat Day.
MSPs will be donning hats of all shapes and size to support the cause and help raise awareness.
Brain Tumour Awareness Month
March marks Brain Tumour Awareness Month - a cause which is very close to Nadia Majid's heart.
Her son, Rayhan became unwell with a sore head and sickness. He was taken to four different GPs in six weeks, but they all dismissed Nadia's concerns.
Convinced that something was wrong, Rayhan’s parents took him to the hospital where an MRI scan revealed he had a high-grade medulloblastoma brain tumour.
Despite undergoing four different surgeries and six weeks of radiotherapy, Rayhan sadly died during his first course of chemotherapy on 7 April 2018.
'It's difficult to tell his story'
Nadia will be joining the charity on the campaign trail today in order to try and improve awareness of the symptoms.
If doctors and parents are aware, she says, more people could be saved.
Nadia said: "When Rayhan passed, it was a really difficult time for our family and I found it difficult to face this.
"I hope by coming forward it will be as important for them as it is for us, and it can help them to understand how brain tumours can devastate families, as it has for ours.
"Sharing Rayhan's story is not always easy, but what keeps me going is that if I can change just one thing about brain tumour research or make a difference for just one person or just one family, I am honouring Rayhan and his legacy."
More research needed
Nadia added that this type of cancer is the biggest killer of children and adults under 40 - yet little is known about it compared with other forms.
She says the invasive treatments need to be researched: "Even the children who have survived this type of brain tumour, or any other brain tumour, are left with so many detriments as a result of having those toxic treatments.
"My interest in this is twofold - on one hand I want to see a better prognosis for patients, and I also want to see kinder treatments."
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