A London man has revealed his heartache after a ‘silent’ cancer that caused barely any symptoms killed his partner ‘as quickly as ripping off a plaster’.
Father-of-one Austen Ham-Howes, 45, told of how Nicolette Richardson, 41, died 13 days after her diagnosis of a deadly brain tumour.
The ‘healthy’ mother had suffered virtually no symptoms, apart from a headache that struck just 24-hours before doctors spotted the disease.
Within a week, she was undergoing emergency surgery to remove the cancer, which ultimately left her paralysed, blind and comatose.
‘One minute, we were viewing houses where we planned to build a future together and the next Nicolette was taken ill,’ said Mr Ham-Howes, a business owner from Twickenham, southwest London.
‘Suddenly, I was thrust into a world where the mother of my child was fighting for her life.
‘Nicolette had zero symptoms, yet our whole lives were turned upside down in just weeks and we were cheated of the chance to have a fair fight against this disease.
‘I know it was wrong, but I felt so jealous of people who had time to come to terms with this devastating disease.
Nicolette Richardson died less than two weeks after suffering the only symptom of her lethal brain tumour.
‘For us, it felt as quick as ripping off a plaster.’
The headache struck on November 16, 2020 and, when it hadn’t vanished the following day, Ms Richardson — who was mum to eight year-old Isabella — visited her GP for guidance.
The doctor told her it was a migraine and she put it down to the stress and physical demands of her osteopath business.
She was told to go to A&E if her migraine didn’t improve with painkillers within the day.
With the pain becoming increasingly unbearable, she travelled to Charing Cross Hospital near the couple’s home, where she received an MRI scan of her brain.
Devastatingly, doctors spotted an ultra-lethal stage four glioblastoma brain tumour.
Only around five per cent of those with this type of brain tumour survive longer than five years.
The average survival time after diagnosis is between 12 to 18 months, with those at later stages of the illness often at the lower end of the scale.
She left behind a daughter, Isabella, who is now aged eight.
Glioblastomas are among the deadliest of all cancerous tumours, with just 5% of those diagnosed surviving five years or more.
Ms Richardson was rushed into emergency surgery to remove her tumour six days later, but the procedure resulted in catastrophic injuries including paralysis on the left side of her body, blindness in one eye and partial sight loss in the other.
Doctors placed Nicolette into a coma after her surgery but she never recovered, and was taken off life support on November 30.
Five years on, Mr Ham-Howes and his daughter have been fundraising for the charity Brain Tumour Research, in memory of Ms Richardson.
He has been donating £2 from every treatment carried out at Richmond Osteopaths, Ms Richardson’s business, during March — which is brain tumour awareness month.
Mr Ham-Howes and his daughter are now trying to ‘live with positivity’ and honour his partner every day.
He added: ‘Isabella is Nicolette’s mini-me and she is now eight years old.
Austen Ham-Howes has vowed to honour his partner and Isabella’s mother every day
Just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this type of brain cancer since records began in 2002, according to Brain Tumour Research
‘We have both supported each other to get to where we are today.
‘We try to live with positivity, and we try to honour her mum every single day.
‘I’d love for there to one day be a cure for all types of brain tumours so that no-one has to experience what we went through.”
Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said the family’s story is ‘a stark reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age’.
‘Yet just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002,’ he added.
‘It’s only by working together that we can change this.’
