Pregnant woman, 25, claims declining vision was dismissed by doctors as ‘migraines’ until she went BLIND – in fact she had a brain tumour

A Cheshire woman who suffered debilitating headaches that left her bedbound and blind in one eye claims she was told by doctors her symptoms were simply ‘bad migraines’.

But within six months, 25 year-old Tia Bradbury, who was five months pregnant at the time, discovered these problems were in fact signs of grape-sized brain tumour.

Now, having undergone lifesaving brain surgery to remove the growth, she is warning others to trust their gut when it comes to worrying symptoms.

‘I would always tell anybody that you know your body from the inside out, you need to keep pushing until you’re taken seriously,’ she said.

‘If I had left it and not continually gone back to the hospital, I probably wouldn’t be here now.’

Ms Bradbury began to experience migraines and eye ‘flickering’ in December last year and visited her GP, who told her she was suffering hemiplegic migraines, which typically cause vision changes. 

However, the prison officer said the sight in her left eye was ‘getting worse by the day’ and she began to feel irritable — both warning signs of a brain tumour.

She was soon suffering from two to three migraines a week, leaving her unable to get out of bed and sometimes unable to speak, all while 22-weeks pregnant. 

Tia Bradbury started to experience migraines and eye ‘flickering’ in December last year, but claims doctors dismissed her symptoms as hemiplegic migraines

In April 2024, the mother-of-two (pictured with partner Kyle Bloss, 26and daughter Belle Bloss aged 2) was ‘shocked’ to wake up completely blind in her left eye and quickly booked an appointment at Specsavers that day thinking she needed glasses

In April 2024, Ms Bradbury was horrified to wake up and find she was completely blind in her left eye.

She quickly booked an appointment at the local opticians, thinking she needed glasses.

But the optician explained her left eye was not responding to light and urged her to go to the hospital. 

Yet, even after going blind in her left eye, Ms Bradbury claims she had to ‘push’ for an MRI scan as doctors were still ‘adamant’ she was suffering hemiplegic migraines.

An MRI two weeks later revealed a 3cm tumour in the middle of her brain, which was pushing on her left optic nerve and growing quickly, causing the blindness.

‘My eyesight just got worse and worse. I was completely blind in one eye and my right side started going a little bit as well,’ she said. 

‘It was quite sudden, it went from flickering to not being able to see a thing. It was so strange.

‘I knew something wasn’t right from the amount of pain I was in. No one should be in that amount of pain from a headache.

‘I noticed some personality changes. I was irritated by everything. I wasn’t myself. I didn’t find joy in a lot of things. 

‘They said it could either be because of the pain I was in from the tumour, or the actual tumour that can cause personality changes.’

More than 12,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with brain tumours every year, according to The Brain Tumour Charity.  

An MRI revealed a 3cm tumour in the middle of her brain, which was pushing on her left optic nerve and growing quickly, causing the blindness

Headaches are the most common symptom, but vision changes, seizures, dizziness, tiredness, personality changes and a loss of taste and smell are all tell-tale signs of a brain tumour.  

Ms Bradbury felt she was not being ‘taken seriously’ because she was a ‘young girl’ that looked like she was exaggerating her pain.

She admitted that she was worried about her pregnancy and how the baby would react to the anaesthetic, but thankfully the procedure in May 2024 was a success and the baby was ‘completely fine’. 

After the 12-hour surgery her tumour was removed and her eyesight returned. But she still has frequent MRI scans for monitoring.

For Ms Bradbury the hardest part about the surgery was how it affected her two-year-old daughter.

She said: ‘It was such an unnerving time because we didn’t know how I was going to react because I have a heart condition. It was just a scary time.

‘I was more worried that something was going to happen to me and I would have to leave my little girl and my partner behind. That was the worst part.

‘There’s so much that could have gone wrong. Just not knowing if anything would affect the surgery.

‘But we did have a good support network, we made it through which is good.

‘All the family really stepped up and helped out. My partner spent most of the days with me in the hospital and was looking after our daughter.

Ms Bradbury admitted that she ‘struggled’ with her appearance after the surgery, as half her head was shaved off and she had a ‘huge’ scar across her head

Now the mum says that she has no migraines, no pain and a different outlook on how short and precious life is

‘My little girl was more affected by it after the surgery because she spent a lot of time with grandparents. When she did see me she wasn’t allowed to play with me, I wasn’t allowed to pick her up, I didn’t have any energy.

‘She was probably very confused with the whole thing. But everyone was very supportive and helped her through it as well.’

Ms Bradbury admitted that she ‘struggled’ with her appearance after the surgery, as half her head was shaved off and she had a ‘huge’ scar across her head.

‘I was very confused afterwards. It shocked me a lot because it changed how I looked. Half my head was shaved, I had a big scar that went all the way across the head,’ she said. 

‘I really struggled with that, I’m such a young girl as well and it really affected me. It was a huge change that I didn’t really prepare for.’

The mum now urges others with similar symptoms to ‘trust their gut’ and see a doctor.

She said: ‘I would always tell anybody that you know your body from the inside out, you need to keep pushing until you’re taken seriously.

‘If I had left it and not continually gone back to the hospital, I probably wouldn’t be here now.

‘It wasn’t a lot of time to process the information, it wasn’t great, I wish I would’ve been taken a bit more seriously.’

Now, Ms Bradbury says that she has no migraines, no pain and a different outlook on how short and precious life is.

The hospital trust and Specsavers were contacted for comment.