'Doctors blamed brain tumour symptoms on arachnophobia - surgery left me speaking French'

Professional footballer Amy Carr was left baffled after being told she fainted after seeing a spider in her room, with doctors initially failing to notice the golfball-sized tumour on her brain.

A woman who passed out after seeing a spider in her room was mistakenly told she had fainted due to her terror at the sight of the eight-legged creature. And there were further shocks in store when emergency surgery left her speaking in French.

Personal trainer Amy Carr woke up surrounded by paramedics, after suffering a seizure, and doctors' explanation of her passing out from fright just didn't seem likely to her. The 33-year-old remembered: “I'd never reacted that way to anything before. I knew I didn't like spiders but blacking out seemed like an extreme response - I wouldn't normally pass out just from seeing one."

Horrifyingly, it later emerged that she'd collapsed due to a golf-ball-sized tumour on her brain which required urgent treatment.

That first puzzling incident occurred in 2013, with Amy suffering two further seizures over the next two years, which saw her blackout at the gym. An MRI scan carried out in February 2015 detected the tumour, which was initially benign. By July of that year, however, the tumour had become malignant, with Amy given a 5 per cent chance of dying from it.

Alarmingly, former professional footballer Amy was also told that surgery held a 45 per cent chance of leaving her paralysed, with a 45 per cent chance of complete success and a full recovery. At the time of her diagnosis, Amy was flying high - enjoying a career playing professionally for IL Sandviken in Norway following a four-year football scholarship in the US city of Chicago.

Suddenly her future was at risk. Looking back on this worrying turning point in her life, Amy, from Hemel Hempstead, Bedfordshire, said: "I knew the risks that came with surgery, I was warned I could die or be left with life-changing injuries."

Amy underwent surgery at London UCLH hospital while wide awake - during a cutting-edge procedure whereby a patient's body is numbed, but they are still conscious. For eight days after the op, Amy was unable to walk or talk, and when she did finally find her voice, it was her GCSE-level French that came out.

She revealed: "The first time I spoke was in response to the nurses asking me how I was. I replied with my GCSE grade C French of 'comme ci, comme ça' (so-so). Everyone was baffled - I guess my French finally came in handy! The next day I was back to speaking English."

This was far from the end of her ordeal, however, and Amy also had to undergo 'brutal' radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well as extensive physiotherapy. She said: "When it came to radiotherapy and chemo, nothing could prepare me from its brutality. During the beginning, I vomited 27 times in two days. It got better but it was hard."

During her career as a footballer, Amy earned 16 caps playing in goal for England u17 and u19s, and also played for Chelsea, Arsenal, and Reading. However, her coordination was impacted by the tumour. She explained: "I used to be able to kick and throw a ball from the goal to the halfway line, now I can't."

Amy also believes the tumour led to changes in her personality, sharing: "I'm more direct now for sure and I have to think more carefully about what I say, I also get way more tired than I used to."

While undergoing her gruelling cancer treatment, Amy began fitness training and says her dream now is to help others dealing with the same thing. According to Amy: "I found the lack of support after treatment tricky to navigate. That's the reason I took up a career supporting people during their rehab."

Nowadays, Amy works as a healthy lifestyle specialist and goalkeeping coach, and continues to be monitored with regular scans. On October 27, Amy also raised more than £2,000 for Brain Tumour Research after completing the Dublin Marathon in four hours and 28 seconds.

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, has given the following statement: "Amy's story is a reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. Amy has shown incredible resilience, determination and generosity in not only sharing her own experience of the disease but supporting the community through her marathon fundraising efforts."

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com