- Amy Howarth was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour last April
- Aged just 19 years old, doctors said she had six months to live
- But the brave 20-year-old has fought to survive and is still alive a year on
- She has ballooned from a size 10 to 28 having gained nine stone in three months after taking steroids as part of her treatment
- Miss Howarth said she aims to make her 21st birthday in September
- She said: ‘I don’t take anything for granted. I live for today and if I am still here tomorrow, that’s a bonus’
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A year ago Amy Howarth was given just six months to live.
Last April doctors told the then 19-year-old her clumsiness was more sinister, diagnosing her with a brain tumour.
The cancerous mass had attached itself to the major nerves, leaving medics to conclude Miss Howarth had just months to live.
But the brave 20-year-old has fought to survive, and is ‘enjoying every single day’.
A year ago Amy Howarth, 20, pictured left before diagnosis and right, now, was given just six months to live after doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive brain tumour. The then 19-year-old had put her symptoms down to clumsiness, never suspecting it was anything more sinister
Miss Howarth, from Nottingham, now aims to make it to her 21st birthday in September.
She said: ‘When this happened my whole world came crashing down.
‘I was independent and everything but now I know I could go at any time.
‘Now I don’t take anything for granted – I live for today and if I’m still here tomorrow, that’s a bonus.’
Miss Howarth was diagnosed with the tumour in April 2013.
She said: ‘It all happened so fast. Just before my diagnosis, I was in the kitchen and dropped my purse and just couldn’t pick it up.
‘Then I kept walking into doors but I just didn’t think anything of it.
‘I thought I was just being clumsy but my mum said I had to go to the doctor.’
She has faced intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy but while extending her life, it has drained her energy and she has ballooned from a size 10 to a size 28.
From the time of her diagnosis last
April to last July, she had gained nine stone – the result of steroids
she was taking as part of her treatment.
‘You do get the odd person that stops and stares but I just stare back at them,’ she said.
Miss Howarth, pictured with her best friend Sophie, right, has ballooned from a size 10 to 28, having gained nine stone in three months having taken steroids as part of her treatment
Miss Howarth, pictured right, with her mother Jo on her 16th birthday
‘If they’ve got a problem why don’t they just come and ask instead of staring at my wheelchair?’
Miss Howarth can no longer go out on her own, but thanks to Rainbow Hospice in Loughborough, Leicestershire, she can go shopping and walk her six-month old British bulldog, Roxy.
She said: ‘The staff really keep me going.
‘They mean I’m still independent there and that’s vital to me. They are not just workers to me, they’re so much more.’
Her mother Jo, 53, also praised Rainbow for the help they give her daughter.
She said: ‘When we got the diagnosis it really hit us for six.
‘She’s been fighting and fighting and we keep setting her goals and we really want her to see her 21st birthday.
‘Ever since the diagnosis we’ve tried to keep her active and Rainbows has really helped.’
Despite being told she had months to live, Miss Howarth, pictured with her nieces and nephews, has fought to survive and aims to live to see her 21st birthday in September
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