Specialists in pursuing claims for people harmed through work or during medical treatment
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3rd Jun 2010
Family shattered as brain tumour is undetected for a decade
A family says its life has been left in tatters and is accusing doctors of failing to diagnose a father’s slow growing brain tumour for a decade.
Now, Leigh Fawcett, 40, who says he was fobbed off by his GP surgery time and again as he complained about headaches and sinus trouble is taking action against Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Andrew Harrison of Barnsley firm Raleys Solicitors, who is acting for the father of four, is investigating whether or not chances to make the diagnosis were missed when they shouldn’t have been.
“As well as having to deal with years of constant, sometimes unbearable pain, which was effectively dismissed by the medical profession, when the eventual diagnosis came through, the family lost its source of income and as a result of that, their home.”
Specialists believe Mr Fawcett’s tumour had been growing with him since birth but he only started to show symptoms when he reached adulthood.
Andrew Harrison said his client could clearly remember his first attack.
“It was 1996; he was 26 and working in a supermarket warehouse in Wakefield. They were all having a joke. Mr Fawcett said he was laughing quite hard when he suddenly felt a crushing pressure at the back of his head which put him on his knees.
“When this had happened two or three times, he consulted his GP and carried on visiting the surgery as his symptoms increased.
“Instead of being sent for a scan, Mr Fawcett believes that he was fobbed off time and time again, until he, the patient, had to insist on one."
When Mr Fawcett finally received a scan date, it clashed with a routine hernia operation. But instead of getting a re-scheduled date, he says his paperwork was lost for another 12 months.
By this time he was suffering dizzy spells and high blood pressure.
Sent to Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield, for a full medical, he was told his blood pressure was “dangerously high” and on April 30 2007, was finally given a CT scan.
It confirmed his worst fears - he had brain cancer.
Mr Fawcett, and his wife Tracy have two grown up sons Chris and Anthony and two daughters Lauren and Jamie-Lee who still live with the couple in Eastmoor, Wakefield.
“The news was devastating. My whole world came crashing down around me. After ten years of being made to feel I was wasting people’s time I was given the worst possible diagnosis. I felt completely let down. I was working as an HGV driver, which I had to stop immediately.
“The specialist said they wanted to operate in weeks and until a biopsy was taken we didn’t know if it was benign or not.
“My health wasn’t good; I kept catching colds and had chest problems which meant I couldn’t go under anaesthetic. I kept having regular scans and doctors were able to tell me the tumour was benign.
“It was a relief when they finally operated. It was a hard tumour and had to be chipped away. Some was left at the side of my vertebrae as it was too risky to remove.”
While the family was trying to come to terms with Mr Fawcett’s illness, they were dealt another blow.
“As I couldn’t work we lost our source of income and my wife was trying to care for me and our two children.
“The policies we had in place to pay off the mortgage were refused as this was classed as a pre-existing condition due to the length of time it had taken to diagnose.”
Realising their house would be repossessed, the couple put it on the market and weeks before the repossession order was made, managed to sell by drastically dropping the asking the price.
“It was heartbreaking, but what could we do?” said Mr Fawcett.
“We applied to the council for a house but because we had effectively made ourselves homeless we were turned away. My biggest concern at that point was to secure my family’s future as I didn’t know how much of a future I was going to have.”
The family were eventually re-housed by the council after a year in private rented accommodation. Mr Fawcett has scans every six months to monitor the tumour which is still affecting his health.
“I have only just turned 40 and used to be a fit man. Now I have headaches every day, I feel sick, my sight is going and I regularly get pins and needles down the left hand side of my face.
“There have been occasions when it has been difficult to cope and I couldn’t have got through it without my family. You put your trust in the doctors and hope it is going to be alright, sometimes it isn’t,” he said.
Ends
Issued on behalf of Raleys Solicitors, www.raleys.co.uk, by Nexnet PR, 8 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2DS, www.nexnet.co.uk. For further information call Nexnet on 0113 247 0029 or email paul.newham@nexnet.co.uk, joanne.mead@nexnet.co.uk or sophie.mccandlish@nexnet.co.uk
