"It was a painful experience for Lachlan and a worrying time for his family back home in Stonehaven, but one they hoped never to repeat. Six years later, Lachlan's younger cousin Hazel Dempster, who lives in Kirkcudbright, began suffering from worrying headaches and her GP referred her for a scan. "Imagine if we both had a brain tumour," he joked in a phone call to reassure her ahead of her first MRI."
"Within days, the 12-year-old was undergoing emergency neurosurgery to drain fluid from her brain caused by a growth bigger than a golf ball. "It was a massive shock because the likelihood of [two cousins having brain tumours] is so miniscule," said Hazel, now 16. "But I think I've probably got a closer relationship with Lachlan now because it's something me and him can relate to that practically nobody else in our life can.""
"Both teenagers are now living with their tumours as neither can be removed by surgeons due to their position in the brain. Their conditions are not known to be genetically linked - and they say it's just "bad luck" that it has hit their family twice. "To be honest, we just joke about it... I don't know if it's a coping mechanism,""
Lachlan Lindsay was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age eight; surgeons acted quickly and he recovered. Six years later his younger cousin Hazel Dempster experienced worrying headaches and was referred for a scan. Hazel underwent emergency neurosurgery to drain fluid from a brain growth larger than a golf ball. Hazel has an optic chiasm pilocytic astrocytoma that presses on her optic nerve and affects her vision. Neither teenager's tumour can be removed because of its position in the brain. Their conditions are not known to be genetically linked and the family describes it as bad luck. Since the first surgery Hazel has had six further operations.
Read at www.bbc.com
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