25 August 2023 , 15:47
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Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell has made a heartbreaking plea since revealing her devastating cancer diagnosis. The 36-year-old, who is a specialist in decorative arts and fine antiques, has called for more research into brain cancer after first being diagnosed with the incurable condition last year.
When she was rushed to A&E at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh after suffering from migraines in June 2022, Theo was told she had glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour, which she said came as a "huge shock." She was told she had two years to live after she was diagnosed with the incurable cancer aged 35.
Speaking to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland at the time, she said: " [I had] five or six months of increasingly worsening symptoms - headaches, sickness, problems with my vision, very, very pressurised pains in my head, migraines - the list went on.
"And it wasn't until I went to A&E at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh that I was given the diagnosis. I had absolutely no idea it was coming, it was a huge shock." Since undergoing months of treatment, the TV star has said it has left her feeling "lonely" and "mentally all over the place."
Antiques Roadshow star Theo Burrell reveals she has ‘a year or two left’ after cancer diagnosis (BBC)However, the mum-of-one has spoken out about the lack of funding there is in brain cancer research and has now called for a change after signing a petition started by Brain Tumour Research, and is pleading with others to do the same.
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Theo told Edinburgh Live: "I've signed the petition and encourage others to do the same. It's hard not to feel angry about the whole experience. Brain tumours are so underfunded, and they have such a poor prognosis. Brain cancer seems to be a few steps ahead of us, it's outsmarting us.
"We can get a man on the moon, but we can't cure brain tumours; it's so frustrating that funding is so thin on the ground. So many young people get brain tumours, so we need to care for the next generation. Signing the petition is so important to get the 100,000 signatures, otherwise it suggests people don't care."
The petition has set out to kick-start an increase in investment in brain tumour research to £35 million a year by 2028, according to the braintumourresearch website.