BBC News star diagnosed with incurable cancer as tumour discovered after bike crash

BBC News presenter Glenn Campbell has revealed the moment that doctors found that he had a brain tumour, which is likely to eventually kill him, after he suffered a horror bike crash which saw him hit the tarmac face first. The 48-year-old, who is BBC Scotland’s Political Editor, went public with his diagnosis in a candid interview where he said he will miss his children growing up but is not afraid of dying. The bleak news was only discovered when Glen fell off his bike as he cycled on uneven road.

At the time, Glenn said he feared being run over as he lay unable to move but was saved by a stranger passing by who stopped the traffic. After breaking 10 ribs, Glenn was treated for his injuries and allowed home. But the nightmare wasn’t over as weeks later, the journalist found he could not walk or talk coherently.

His wife feared he was having a stroke but it transpired Glenn was experiencing seizures. Revealing details of his illness, Glenn wrote: “What I’ve been diagnosed with is an incurable brain cancer and, while that’s really not good, I instinctively knew very early on that I wanted to try to make something positive out of such a negative situation. I’ve realised – and I’m quite surprised by this – that I’m not actually afraid of dying.

What I really fear is missing out. ” I tried Furbo’s new cat camera and it’s a life-changing solution for anxious pet owners BBC journalist Glenn Campbell has spoken about his brain tumour ( Image: Handout) Glenn Campbell has had staples removed from his head ( Image: Handout) “I’m afraid of missing out on growing old with my wife Claire. I’m afraid of not seeing my children grow into adults, not being there for their graduations, for their weddings if they have them and for the births of any children they may have.

That’s what scares me but it’s what makes me all the more determined to try to defy the statistics as best I can. ” While Glenn knows that he hasn’t got a long term future ahead of him, he has said that he wants to help others diagnosed with cancer to have the best opportunity to flourish. He continued: “It’s also why I’d like to be part of trying to improve those statistics, not just for me but for the cancer patients that will come after me.

The problem with brain cancer is, because it’s one of the less survivable cancers, there aren’t enough survivors around to make a noise and get more attention for a hard-to-treat cancer. ” Glenn Campbell has fears for his future but is not afraid to die ( Image: Handout) Glenn Campbell was walking his dog just days after his brain op ( Image: Handout) Glenn is now looking to make the most of every moment that he has left, after having an operation to remove the tumour from his brain, which was discovered during tests following his bike crash. He is very philosophical about his coming months and years.

He said: “I know this tumour is probably what’s going to get me in the end but, instead of worrying about dying from brain cancer, I’m focusing on living with it. ” He was diagnosed with the oligodendroglioma brain tumour – a cancer that makes up just three per cent of all brain tumours – in August and underwent a five-hour operation at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Before going under the knife, Glenn felt the prognosis was bleak.

He said: “I was left thinking, ‘I’m going to be dead before I get to my 50th birthday. ’ The operation itself was not without risk and when I came round I was euphoric – because I was still alive. I celebrated that night in the high-dependency ward with cheese and biscuits.

The other thing that was pretty amazing was how quickly I recovered. I had the surgery on a Thursday and was home walking my dog on the Saturday. ” The silver lining for Glenn is that he is hopeful of a number of years ahead of him as the tumour can be treated to a point.

He continued: “A lot of brain tumours don’t respond well to cancer treatments but there is a good chance that, with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it will be possible to keep my tumour in check for a long time – hopefully many years. It’s not an exact science and you have to keep being lucky as well. I can now see how my brain cancer could give me a whole new lease of life and in some ways I feel as if that has already started.

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