'My best friend became tired and started bumping into things... months later she was dead'

A woman who became tired and started bumping into things received a devastating diagnosis and tragically died just 16 months later.

Alina Hunter was only 55-years-old when she died from a glioblastoma brain tumour (GBM), in August 2023. It was just 16 months after being diagnosed, despite her undergoing surgery and having rounds of gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

She had first started feeling tired, confused and regularly bumping into things in January last year and was also finding it difficult to get dressed and was experiencing breathlessness. In April, an MRI scan at Stepping Hill Hospital then revealed a brain tumour.

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In May 2022, Alina underwent surgery at Salford Royal Hospital and the following month, she began a 10-week course of radiotherapy at The Christie Cancer Centre in Manchester along with six months of chemotherapy.

But a check-up scan in December 2022 devastatingly revealed Alina had developed a second tumour on her brain, where she was placed on to a trial of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in January - but the tumours were still growing.

Alina received palliative care at home before she tragically passed away on August 28 this year.

Helen Wilson, 54, from Poynton, has now remembered her close friend of 10 years who she was 'in awe of' due to her determination to beat the cancer. She will also be embarking on a Walk of Hope to help raise awareness and money to find a cure for the disease. Donations can be made online here.

“What happened to Alina was so sad. She was such a lovely person with a relatively young family," Helen said.