Family 'overwhelmed by generosity' after mum's brain tumour diagnosis

After experiencing difficulties with her speech and having "vacant moments", Nicola Speakman was given the devastating news that she had primary glioblastoma, an aggressive and terminal form of cancer.

The news turned the nursery worker's life upside down, after previously saying that "everything seemed to be going [her] way" as she was planning a Lake District wedding and a Florida holiday with childhood friend Paul Griffin.

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Nicola, Paul, and the family (Image: Nicola Speakman)

However, describing herself as a positive person, Nicola decided to use her diagnosis as a way to make some positive change in the world.

Rather than asking for sympathy, the 42-year-old mum instead asked for donations to her Make-a-Wish Foundation fundraiser, to make sure that children with terminal or critical illnesses have the chance to make special memories with their families.

Explaining how she is "so grateful and overwhelmed by people's generosity", Nicola managed to raise a huge £10,330 for the Foundation.

Nicola and Paul tied the knot at a small registry service (Image: Paul Griffin)

Although Nicola's diagnosis interrupted her plans for a dream wedding, she and Paul still tied the knot out of a small registry service at St Helens Town Hall.

Speaking about the reaction to Nicola's diagnosis and fundraising, Paul added: "The generosity has been overwhelming, not just in terms of donations, but people can't seem to do enough for us.

"We've been inundated with messages of support and people telling us they'll help us out whenever they can - and that's from family, friends, and people we haven't seen for years."

Nicola's condition had worsened following bouts of chemotherapy and radiotherapy (Image: Nicola Speakman)

While Nicola has remained as positive as she can, Paul explained that her condition has worsened as she has suffered from blood clots as well as extreme fatigue from chemotherapy.

This led doctors to decide that the best course of action was to stop treatment to prevent any further pain.

"The chemotherapy and radiotherapy were totally wiping her out, but unfortunately the tumour is still growing", Paul said.

"We've been away for a bit of a break, and we are just trying to do everything we can to stay positive and make memories with the kids."

The couple say the are overwhelmed by people's generosity to the fundraising and general support (Image: Nicola Speakman)

Following Nicola's symptoms of speech difficulties and vacant moments, the family hopes that more awareness can be raised of brain tumour research and its symptoms.

For more information about brain tumours and their symptoms, you can visit this link.

To donate towards Brain Tumour Research, you can follow this link.

To donate towards the Make-a-Wish Foundation, you can follow this link.