A MAN has described the torture of watching his wife lose the ability to care for herself after an “ear infection” turned out to be far worse.

Adrian Witcomb, 56, says his wife, Sarah, 50, has rapidly declined in a matter of weeks and is no longer able to walk or stand.

He describes feeling “numb” at having to come to terms with caring for Sarah – who he met 22 years ago – round-the-clock. 

Their nightmare began in September 2021 when IT sales expert Sarah began to suffer constant headaches.

Adrian, a procurement consultant, said: “She was experiencing really bad headaches all day long and, after a couple of weeks, she went to the doctor, who suspected it was a bad ear infection.

“But a couple of days later, Sarah fell from the top to the bottom of the stairs. She was black and blue, so I called for an ambulance and she was taken to A&E.

“There, medics thought she had labyrinthitis [an ear infection] and gave her some antibiotics.”

But Adrian began to panic when the medication did not work and he noticed a sudden deterioration in Sarah’s health.

He said: “The next day, I phoned for paramedics again because I knew Sarah wasn’t right.

“They came to check her over and decided to take her in for further tests.”

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The family, of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, then found out the true cause of Sarah’s symptoms.

At Worcester Hospital results revealed Sarah had a grade four glioblastoma – an inoperable and fast growing cancerous tumour in the brain that has an average survival rate of 12-18 months.

The symptoms of a glioblastoma can initially be quite non-specific, often causing headaches, nausea, confusion, memory loss, incontinence and vomiting.

Adrian said: “I couldn’t believe this was happening. Our family’s life was turned upside down overnight.

“They started her on a high dose of chemo, before lowering it and adding radiotherapy to her treatment plan.

“Two weeks ago, she suffered a seizure and a bleed on the brain. Since then, she hasn’t been able to walk or stand.

“She sleeps a lot and when she’s awake she can’t read the messages on her phone, so I have to help her make sense of them.

“I feel very numb. It’s incredibly difficult to see your wife in that condition.”

The diagnosis has also been deeply distressing for the couple's daughters – internal recruiter Issobella, 20, and student Sofia, 18.

Adrian and Issobella take it in turns to work at home and sleep downstairs to care for Sarah at all times.

“Our dining room has been turned into a makeshift hospital ward, with a hospital bed, a wheelchair and a commode,” Adrian said. 

“My poor youngest witnessed the seizure which was very traumatic.

“Sarah, Issobella and Sofia are very close, so it’s really tough for them to see their mum like this.

“I always nicknamed them the Kardashians, I’m definitely outnumbered in the house.

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“They’re my entire world and it’s been very difficult.

“All we can focus on is getting Sarah better, but over the last three months, I’ve watched her health decline.

“I’m fearful of the results we’re due to get after Christmas, when they will rescan her to see the size of the tumour following this round of treatment.”

A family friend has now launched a fundraising page to help with finances, as Adrian begins to look at alternative treatment in the private sector.

He is hoping to get immunotherapy and proton beam therapy – the former is still in clinical trials for brain tumours, while the latter is available to eligible patients on the NHS.

Adrian said: “The goal is to raise £40,000 to enable us to look into alternative treatment. 

“We’re living with this dark cloud over us. All we want is for Sarah to get better, but she’s in a bad way.

“We’re throwing the kitchen sink at this to get her better. It’s all we can focus on right now."

To donate to Sarah’s fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/sarahs-fight-against-the-big-c.

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