A new mum who dismissed her symptoms as “baby brain” died after the illness was revealed to be an aggressive form of brain cancer. Photo / TikTok
A new mum who dismissed her symptoms as “baby brain” died just six months after her illness was revealed to be caused by an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Anneka Johnstone died in November 2019, aged 33, just six months after she was diagnosed with cancer — and 13 months after her daughter, Sienna, was born.
Sienna, now aged 4, was six months old when her mum started having dizzy spells in 2019.
Anneka initially put the symptoms down to “baby brain”, said husband Alan, 38.
A short time later, though, the new mum fell while holding her infant daughter. Shortly after that, she began dragging her feet.
Anneka was taken to hospital near the couple’s home in the Scottish town of Dumfries in June 2019, where she was diagnosed with the herpes simplex virus and was prescribed a round of antibiotics.
A week later, an MRI scan and brain biopsy revealed she was suffering from stage four glioblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer that occurs in the brain or spinal cord.
Anneka died just six months later.
“It hit us all like a ton of bricks,” said Alan, a medical technician.
“Anneka wanted to see her daughter grow up. After being told the news, we drove back to tell the family.
“The first person Anneka saw when she walked through the door was Sienna. She collapsed.
“All she wanted was to be a mum, be there for Sienna’s 18th and watch her get married.”
The childhood sweethearts met aged 17 and 18, while Alan was on leave from the military.
They married in 2015, and Sienna was born in October 2018.
Anneka’s health deteriorated quickly after her symptoms began, and much of her final few months were spent in hospital.
“It was sickening knowing the person she was and that there was nothing I could do,” Alan said.
“I could see the fear in her eyes, she was terrified — like anyone would be at 33 years old.
“Anneka was dealing with it well, but the family was not. We knew there was nothing we could do.”
Alan has now raised almost AU$100,000 (NZ$109,332) for the UK’s Brain Tumour Organisation, after walking 345km across Scotland in one week.
He said becoming a single parent to Sienna gave him a “totally different focus”.
“She is my number one. I give her as much love as I can give her,” Alan said.
The tour kicks off on September 17 in Austin, Texas.