Man who thought his symptoms were due to Covid vaccine hit with 'cruel' diagnosis

A dad who was hospitalised after having a suspected stroke was given a 'cruel' diagnosis following a CT scan. Shaf Ahmed, 39, from Birmingham, was rushed to hospital in April 2021 after experiencing episodes of pins and needles, focal seizures, and speech loss.

When test results returned clear, Shaf began waiting to be discharged from the hospital. However when he revealed to a nurse that he had had a Covid vaccination just weeks earlier, he was taken for a CT scan.

But while doctors found that the vaccination wasn’t the cause of his symptoms, they instead discovered Shaf had a rare form of a malignant brain tumour and diagnosed him with a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma. Shaf was given three to five years to live, and underwent an operation, followed by over a year of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments to control the cancer's spread.

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During this time, his wife Mirriam also gave birth to their second child, a son named Zidan. Sadly, in August 2023, doctors told Shaf that his tumour had returned and was growing – and this time, it was inoperable.

Now, Shaf, his wife, and their two young children have started a fundraising campaign for Shaf to travel overseas for private treatment to extend his life and give the family more precious time together.

“My brain cancer diagnosis only came about because the health team was concerned I was suffering with side effects of the COVID jab,” Shaf said. “Before that, they seemed to have no desire to scan me.

““It was like a sucker punch when I was given the news that I had brain cancer. I was so scared I’d never get to meet my unborn son. I always knew that it would grow again, but for it to