Dad given months to live after ‘ear infection’ turned out to be incurable brain tumour

*Warning: graphic images*

A dad who was rushed to hospital with an ear infection has been told he has just months left to live, after his illness turned out to be a terminal brain tumour.

Dave Whitford, 49, first realised something was wrong when he was sitting in his garden and suddenly became extremely dizzy and started vomiting.

The following day he was told by hospital doctors that he was suffering from an inner ear infection that had been caused by a tiny insect bite.

As he was still feeling sick and was struggling to balance, doctors took a scan of his head which revealed a small mass on his brain.

The mass was then monitored for two years and as it began to grow, doctors decided to remove it which led to the discovery he was actually suffering from an incurable grade four brain tumour.

The diagnosis left Dave, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, devastated as doctors told him he has just a year and 18 months left to live.

He said: “When they removed it, it took them a month to find out how bad it actually was. They thought it might have been a grade two tumour to start with but it got examined and it came back as a grade four which is the worst one.

“I’ve got 12 to 18 months to live but I might live longer, I just don’t know. When I found out, I just cried as I was just devastated.”

The dad-of-one said he would love to tour America and even had an early 50th birthday party just in case he doesn’t reach the milestone.

He added: “My 50th birthday is this May so I had a birthday party last year in case I don’t make it to being 50. So I invited around 60 people round including all of my family and friends to just celebrate."

Since having part of the tumour removed in December 2021, Dave has had chemotherapy over six months and radiotherapy.

As he has undergone so much treatment, and had part of his brain removed, he is now suffering from debilitating side effects, including short-term memory loss and low energy, and is no longer able to drive.

He said: “I have no energy and I get cold really easily so I have to have special sheets to warm me up. They operated on the left side, so I have ringing in my ear which is quite annoying, especially when I’m trying to get to sleep.

“It does affect people differently and it’s affected my short term memory so I forget a lot of things."

Dave worked as a bus driver until he became ill, but as soon as he was diagnosed with a mass on his brain he was forced to give his driving licence up.

Since then, he has been able to work in various roles over the last three years but due to the severity of his symptoms, he has now had to stop working.

Dave has now set up a Go Fund Me page to help support his family while he is unable to work.