Docs fobbed of my lad's headaches with ibuprofen - he's battling an incurable brain tumour

Stephen Hall said his 14-year-old son Max Hall had suffered from persistent headaches for a year that were so severe he was forced to leave class and take painkillers in the nurse's office.

After visiting his GP in January 2025, Max was referred to Kettering General Hospital in April 2025 where he was allegedly told he was suffering from normal 'teenage migraines' and advised to take ibuprofen.

But seven months after his hospital trip Max had a seizure at home on November 27th 2025 and was rushed back to hospital by ambulance.

En route, the teen suffered another seizure and was put on life support before being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at Nottingham Queen's Medical Centre. Doctors initially suspected a viral infection, but on November 29th CT and MRI scans revealed he had a large brain tumour and, due to its location, it couldn't be operated on.

The family are waiting on biopsy results to clarify the type of cancer he has, but it's located in the part of the brain that's responsible for communication, speech and memory.

Due to the tumour's location it's inoperable on the NHS, so area sales manager Stephen and his family are now fundraising £250,000 for Max to have cancer immune therapy in Germany.

Stephen, from Corby, Northamptonshire, said: "I just find it staggering that someone was complaining of headaches for almost a year and they didn't offer a scan just to rule out the worst case scenario, which he's got. The tumour is really big, it's been there a long time. Words can't describe the feeling, it's like the most terrible dream.

"It feels like the worst nightmare and you just want to wake up but you don't, you're living it."

Stephen claims things would have worked out differently if Max's headaches hadn't been dismissed and he'd had scans sooner.

Stephen said: "The neurology specialist said that it was a big tumour and that it looked like it had been there a long time. We were told in the hospital in Nottingham that if it had been picked up earlier we could be having a totally different discussion than what we are having at the moment. I am convinced that if they had scanned him there would've been something there."

The family are now raising money via their GoFundMe page for cancer immune therapy in Germany, which isn't available on NHS funding.

Stephen said: "He loves everyone and everyone loves him. Even in the hospital all the nurses loved him. He has a wonderful circle of friends. He is one of the popular guys at school and loves people in general.

"We just want the treatment to hurry up. This could be the best of what he is going to be for a while. We have noticed his short-term memory is getting bad and the nausea is setting in now. This morning he's had two bouts of sickness already. He is constantly tired and has started slurring words now. He's still Max but he's just a bit slower, it's heartbreaking. He's not like this, he's usually really sharp."

Despite this, Stephen said that Max remains positive and brave.

Stephen said: "We just really want as much help as we can for treatment with Max but we also don't want any other kids to be in this situation. When you think it could've been avoided. It just seems totally wrong."

The University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group Medical Director, Hemant Nemade, said: "Our thoughts are with Max and his family at this unimaginably difficult time. We are looking into the circumstances of his care with us to establish what happened in order to learn from this."

You can donate to Max's GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-our-son-max-hall