Seizure on rugby field led to
MARK Davies was playing when he suffered a knock head.
To the horror of those playing and watching from the sidelines, he had a seizure on the field, and was rushed to hospital for a brain scan.
Tragically, the scan revealed something far more serious than a head injury.
He was diagnosed with a grade 2 glioma – a condition that accounts for around a third of all brain tumours and central nervous system tumours, and around 80% of all malignant brain tumours. It was the start of a chain of events that would see him change almost beyond recognition and eventually claim his life years later.
“It was a complete shock,” said Geraint Davies, Mark’s younger brother. “Up until that day, he hadn’t had any of the symptoms you’d associate with a brain tumour.”
Mark, from Betws, near Ammanford, rugby to the
suffered his on-field knock in October 2005. Aged only 30 at the time, he underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy and was left severely epileptic, something Geraint said took years to bring under control.
Mark couldn’t drive for 18 months and had to live with his parents, but he was determined to carry on as normally as possible and was committed to returning to work as a welder fabricator in Cross Hands, in spite of his devastating diagnosis.
For years, Mark continued to have regular MRI scans, which all came back with positive results, allowing him to live his life bravely as best as he could. But that all changed one day in 2013 when he began to complain of blurred vision.
“He was admitted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for a biopsy and the impact of that procedure was massive,” said Geraint.
“Mark lost all of his eyesight and suffered from serious psychosis. His behaviour became very aggressive. Worse still, the results confirmed the tumour was incurable and unlikely to respond to further chemotherapy.
“But he was determined not to give up, and he went through another six rounds of chemotherapy anyway in the hope it would prevent further progression of the tumour.
“He managed OK for a couple of years but then, in October 2015, he slipped coming down the stairs and broke his leg. He spent seven months in hospital before eventually going to a care home in Gorseinon, Swansea, in May 2016.”
Mark’s family – his parents Sheila and Dennis, his sister Ffion, his brothers Geraint, Owain, Sion and Ian, as well as his nieces and nephews – visited him in the care home every day. Almost three years later, however, he had lost a lot of weight and even the ability to speak. Geraint knew that, after a long, difficult and brave battle, his brother did not have long to live.
On April 23, 2019, 13-and-a-half years after the rugby match which revealed a diagnosis that would change the Davies family forever, Mark died peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. He was only 43.
“In the end, I held his hand and told him not to be scared and that he was going to a better place, where he could see again, where he could walk, swim and listen to his favourite band – Iron Maiden – all day long,” said Geraint. “Seeing my brave and beautiful brother take his last breath is not something that I have or ever will come to terms with.”
Geraint, who now works as the head of PE and sport at a grammar school in Leicester, admitted he had struggled since the passing of his beloved brother, his grief not being helped by the coronavirus pandemic and the extra stresses which accompanied it.
While out for a jog over the Christmas break last year, he was thinking about his brother and he suddenly had an idea: he wanted to go on a 450-mile bike ride over the course of five days in order to raise money for two charities close to his heart – Brain Tumour Research and the My Name’s Doddie Foundation.
“During the Covid-19 lockdown, I struggled with my grief more and more,” said Geraint. “I was out for a run, reflecting quite a bit and not managing with lockdown too well. I just thought I have to do something; I wanted to do something to remember him and to support other families to try and prevent them from going through what my family has gone through.”
So, having set off on Friday, 36-year-old Geraint will be on his bike from coast to coast, with his tent in tow so that he can sleep at various rugby clubs along the route until its conclusion on Tuesday.
Starting in Great Yarmouth, the 450-mile “bikepacking journey” will see him arrive in Aberystwyth in Ceredigion by day three, before riding along the Welsh coast to Mumbles Pier in Swansea by the end of the fifth day.
“I wanted to try and take in as many of our favourite memories as possible, so Aberystwyth and Aberaeron, and other places in West Wales, before finishing in Swansea because my brother loved the Gower. I’ll spend all day riding and I’ll visit rugby clubs along the route, delivering training sessions in the evenings for minis, juniors, colts and seniors.
“My brother was a massive Neath, Ospreys and Wales rugby supporter and held a season ticket for both Neath and the Ospreys, and I wanted to come up with something fitting to remember him by.”
The devastation of the terrible disease which claimed the life of his brother has affected Geraint more than once. Almost a year ago, one of the students he taught, 15-year-old Tom Ellis, died of a brain tumour. In a remarkably similar version of events to what happened to Mark, the teenager was only diagnosed after a CT scan which was carried out after a rugby match, when Tom sustained suspected concussion.
“Tom was bright, cheerful, amazingly tenacious and incredibly wellloved,” said Geraint.
“He completed five surgeries in total – four on his brain and one on a secondary tumour in his spine. He endured seven rounds of chemotherapy and three debilitating sets of radiotherapy, the only thing that had any effect on his tumour.
“Tom’s focus throughout all of this was his education: attending school as often as he could and seeing his friends. Unfortunately, the tumour was too aggressive and he finally lost his fight in June 2020, at Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough.”
Geraint wants to raise money in memory of both Mark and Tom, and in doing so he wants to raise awareness about a condition which kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
Setting himself a target of £5,000, he had already raised more than £4,000 before even setting off on his epic bike ride. Anyone can donate to the fundraising campaign by visiting uk.virginmoneygiving.com/geraintdavies28.
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Geraint’s fundraising is really inspirational and we will be cheering him on throughout the course of his challenge. By sharing his story, he is also helping to raise awareness of the disease, reminding us that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. We are determined to continue in our mission to find a cure, and to help prevent other families from suffering such a tragic loss.”
As for what Geraint will do when he’s completed his epic challenge, he intends to make the most of the half-term break.
“I’m going to see my family and spend some time with them, because I haven’t seen some of them since last year because of coronavirus,” he said. “But I will be pretty tired I imagine!”