A mum has revealed how she was given a week to live after going to the doctor with what she thought was stress. Harriet Annabelle Ward had been suffering from sudden spells of dizziness and exhaustion, but put her symptoms down to her lifestyle. She was shocked to discover she in fact had a large brain tumour, which had been growing for over a decade. The 51-year-old had even been examined in hospital two years prior to her diagnosis, but the tumour was missed.

But when Harriet started experiencing unusual symptoms - including struggling to form complex sentences when speaking, feeling exhausted, dizzy and with a bloodshot eye – she was rushed to hospital, where she was given an MRI scan. Harriet, a singer from Bristol, said: "They told me they had found a 7cm brain tumour across the left side of my head. If untreated, they said I would have died in my sleep. I was in shock, but I was very focused on what they were going to do and hoping it would all go well. I was very driven to still be here and survive. I was at a point where the pressure of the brain tumour was so severe that I couldn't think or talk properly. I was very friendly and active [before] so I just wanted to get well and go home.".

The mum-of-three was diagnosed with a grade two Meningioma brain tumour - and a further shock came when her husband, Christopher, was told she had just a week to live if she did not have emergency surgery to remove the growth. Harriet's three children Amaryllis, Islah and Noah were aged five, 10 and 15 at the time, and the mum was terrified that she might not live to see them grow up. She said: "The doctors weren't sure I'd make it. Before they put me to sleep, I said to one of them, 'I'd love to see my children again'.".

Harriet woke up from the 14-hour surgery to find out it had been a success. She was left with a heavily swollen left side of her face from the bruising and trauma to the area. She said: "I never took photos until a few weeks post-op as I was black and blue. I looked swollen where they cut from ear to ear. I was in shock.". After the operation in November 2021, Harriet had "very intense" radiotherapy treatment for six months, and has since been slowly recovering at home with her family. Reflecting on her journey since her shock diagnosis, she said: "I was dying to see my children – they visited me in hospital and I was desperately wanting to be at home with them. I felt they would be lost without me, so I knew I needed to get through this. The doctors felt radiotherapy was necessary as it was such a huge tumour, and hopefully won't regrow. It's been a hell of a journey but every day it's incredible to be here with my family. You really do love more for today after going through something like this.".