Young man, suffering from night-time vomiting, was just days away from coma

A young man was only days away from going into a coma, doctors say, having suffered from night-time vomiting for months. Oliver Cooper-Grace was eventually diagnosed with a large brain tumour.

Oliver, 22, also would feel dizzy and experience a sharp pain in the left side of his head before doctors discovered what was wrong. He went to the GP four time due to the headaches that lasted two minutes at a time, leaving him bedbound and off work for all but one day of May last year.

Oliver, from Bootle in Liverpool, finally got a scan after going to A&E early one morning when he vomited during the night, the Liverpool Echo reports. The doctor told him it was a tumour and he was five days away from being in a coma.

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That prospect “terrified” Oliver, but he said: “Being diagnosed with a brain tumour actually came as a relief. I had realised something was seriously wrong, so understanding what it was and being told what treatment I would expect was good to know.”

He had surgery to remove 70% of the tumour just two days later. A week after, it was his birthday when his friends showed up at his house with shaved heads. He said: “They were amazed to see that I still had some hair – in fact, I had more than them!”

As he continues treatment, Oliver has to take time off his job caring for people with learning disabilities. He said: “My mates just treat me as normal, apart from my new nickname, ‘Swellhead’, after my head blew up with the size of the tumour.”

Oliver shared his story to raise awareness of brain tumours and encourage people to visit health professionals if they have worrying symptoms. These can include headaches, fits, persistently feeling sick, vomiting and drowsiness, progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, vision or speech problems, and mental or behavioural changes like memory problems or personality changes in personality, according to the NHS.

The 22-year-old carer had to push for scans more than he’d realised he would when he first went to the GP, but Oliver’s care from The Walton Centre and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has been “great”. He said: “Nurses and doctors at both have been incredible.”

Oliver is under the care of Dr Shaveta Mehta, consultant clinical oncologist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, who said: “The early detection of brain tumours remains challenging, especially in young people, as these tumours are very rare and the symptoms can be vague.

“The common symptoms – such as headache and dizziness, as Oliver had – can be due to multiple causes, which in most cases are not serious. But if someone is experiencing a combination of symptoms which are persisting and/or getting worse over the time, you should seek urgent medical attention.”