AN AYR teacher is celebrating a “lucky escape” after an operation to remove his brain tumour was successful.

Craig Telfer, 27, was crippled with excruciating headaches before his diagnosis where he said he was lying on his living room floor unable to lift his head. But after his ordeal, lasting almost two years, he is finally back to full fitness and is now leading a group on a charity hike to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.

In the summer of 2017, Craig had a number of headaches, but his GP told him not to worry. He then went on holiday with his girlfriend, Shelley, and experienced a few minutes of slurred speech and struggled to get his words out. As a precaution, his GP carried out blood tests but again he was reassured when nothing showed up in the results.

Later in the year, Craig went 23 consecutive days suffering with intense headaches – this time put down to possible migraines or sinusitis. Craig said: “I was lying on the living room floor unable to lift my head because of the pain. I had begged my GP to refer me for a scan, but he said the earliest appointment would be in February.

“In desperation, Shelley and I went to A&E in Ayr for a CT scan which resulted in being taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow by ambulance where I was diagnosed with a grade 1 pilocytic astrocytoma.”

Since diagnosis, Craig has went under the knife where doctors were able to remove his tumour. He has spent the best part of a year recovering to full health. Craig added: “I feel so lucky that surgeons at the Queen Elizabeth were able to remove the brain tumour and I am now totally back to full health.

“I know that for so many people diagnosed with brain tumours the survival prognosis is not good. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

Craig is now leading family, friends and colleagues on a five-hour charity hike up Goat Fell on the Isle of Arran. Craig added: “It’s a great way to celebrate a lucky escape. I am hoping to raise £2,740, the equivalent of one day of research at one of Brain Tumour Research’s Centres of Excellence, as well as raise awareness of brain tumours.”