I’ve battled 4 tumours across 14 years – a bizarre food craving was among the first signs

A DAD has battled four brain tumours across 14 years and a bizarre food craving alerted him to it.

Dan Horrocks, 33, was diagnosed with his first life-threatening tumour in August 2011, which led to brain surgery and regular scans.

All Dan's tumours have been apendymomas - rare severe tumours which usually affect children around age five or adults around age 45.

Before his first diagnosis, Dan had been suffering excruciating headaches, sickness, and dizziness.

GPs gave him medication to help with his balance, recommended acupuncture, and prescribed antidepressants.

Eventually the golf-ball sized grade two benign tumour was diagnosed after a free eye test at Vision Express when the optician spotted swelling on Dan's optic nerves.

I'm eternally grateful to that optician, that eye test saved my life - I never turn down a freebie

Dan Horrocks

He was rushed to A&E at Russells Hall Hospital then had brain surgery the next day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Birmingham, followed by radiotherapy.

The senior parliamentary researcher and Metropolitan Special Constable, from Battersea, London, said: "I'm eternally grateful to that optician, that eye test saved my life - I never turn down a freebie."

Dan had to learn to walk, talk and "think" again after the surgery.

He was left with difficulty balancing, and problems with hearing on his left side and reduced use of his left hand.

Steroids made him gain weight and caused swelling which knocked his confidence.

Dan was diagnosed with a second, grade three, tumour in his brain stem in May 2014 after a routine scan. He required surgery and radiotherapy.

Dan said: "The mask they fit for targeted radiotherapy is so tight you can't blink.

"I experienced panic attacks for the first time - it was horrible."

A third mass in his brain was then identified in July 2018, this time near the area of the brain that controls emotions.

It was picked up by another routine scan but Dan had started craving olives - which he hadn't liked before.

He also wanting spinach and tomatoes for breakfast.

He had brain surgery again at QEH and then radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea.

Dan said: "After the surgery for the third tumour I found it easier to express my emotions - I'm more empathetic and get upset more easily."

After his third tumour Dan married his now wife, Sonia Khan, 32, who works in public affairs,

Dan and Sonia - who both grew up near Birmingham, West Midlands - met and fell in love in 2010 when Dan was studying politics and international relations at Aston University and Sonia was at college.

Despite his illness Dan graduated with a 2:2 degree and the pair moved to London in 2013.

The couple married in 2020 and had their son, Elijah in 2022.

Dan said: "He's a great happy little boy and gives me new determination to get through this.

"The idea of him having to grow up without his dad is too upsetting."

But the fourth and most recent tumour in his brain was spotted in October, with one on his spine.

Dan had brain surgery in November and spinal surgery in December.

The tumours are in cells which line the paths where cerebral spinal fluid moves through the spine, and the cancer could come back anywhere in his spine or brain.

He's having radiotherapy on his brain and spine at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.

This time it will take Dan up to six months to recover.

And doctors have said he's had the maximum radiotherapy they can safely give him on the NHS, and chemotherapy is only likely to be 14 per cent successful in treating his tumours.

After 14 years including radiotherapy, four brain surgeries, one spinal operation, and six-monthly scans, Dan is now on his "last roll of the dice".

Headed to the US

The dad-of-one has almost run out of treatment options in the UK and has raised £40k to go to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, US, to explore pioneering treatments including genetic testing to find a personalised remedy.

Dan has raised over £50k so far - smashing the £40k fundraising goal.

The money will be spent on travel and consultations - including genetic tests on Dan and his tumour samples - to see if a personalised treatment can be found.

The couple say more targeted radiotherapy is also available in the US.

I don't ask the doctors for a prognosis because I don't want to know

Dan Horrocks

Dan says he operates on an "ignorance is bliss" protocol to help him cope.

He said: "I don't ask the doctors for a prognosis because I don't want to know - my situation is so rare they wouldn't be able to tell me anyhow.

"I just go through every day and only think about this stuff if I have to.

"I find having a positive attitude is the only way forward.

"The treatment I'm having now puts me at three times the risk of heart attack or stroke, so to borrow my favourite phrase of Churchill's I have to keep buggering on."

Visit Dan's .