Dionne battles brain tumour and is helped by Badby Park

Dionne Ferguson, 42, and her family supported “Wear A Hat Day” in aid of Brain Tumour Research with the message “a brain tumour can happen to anyone, at any time”.

The #Hattastic campaign took place at Badby Park care home in Daventry, with residents and staff all wearing hats in support. There was also a cake sale to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet only one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this condition.

Dionne began treatment at Badby Park in 2013 and after four years of intensive rehabilitation she is now speaking and able to move her arms and wriggle her legs and toes again.

She said: “When I worked as a nurse, I used to tell patients, mental illness can happen to anyone.

“Then it happened to me. I got a brain tumour.

“Without my daughter Amelia, I wouldn’t have got through it.

“She came to see me every day and I didn’t know she was there. Amelia had top doctors telling her to say goodbye to me because they didn’t think I would make it. But you have to believe in yourself, it’s positive thinking. “

The event at the care service raised £109 for research.

For more information and to donate, visit www.wearahatday.org or text HAT to 70660 to donate £5.

Badby Park provides rehabilitation, respite and palliative care for people with neurological illnesses and acquired brain injuries.