A woman who lost her husband to a brain tumour has welcomed a new report exposing the “punishing financial burden” of the disease.

Gill Graham’s husband Andy was diagnosed with a low-grade haemangioblastoma brain tumour in 2016 – three years after they started to build their family home in Hughenden Valley.

Andy, who was 51 at the time and worked as a camera expert for John Lewis in High Wycombe, underwent surgery which failed to remove the tumour and, for several weeks, remained in a high dependency ward at John Radcliffe Hospital.

Gill was working full-time and driving to and from Oxford as much as possible, while relying on friends and her 84-year-old dad to make sure Andy was not on his own the days she couldn’t make the journey.

She said: “Andy was told by his neurosurgeon he had to return his driving licence on our first appointment, so it meant he lost his independence, which was very difficult for him, and needed to be driven to all his numerous hospital and therapy appointments.

“Andy wasn’t allowed to fly either, so I had to drive the family to Switzerland so that Andy could attend his youngest brother’s wedding.”

Andy sadly died on New Year’s Eve in 2017.

Gill added: “I never imagined that our sons Ollie, 15, and Dan, 13, and I would be starting 2018 without him. In just 18 months, our lives changed beyond recognition.

“He will never see our boys grow up, share their future, see them get exam results, go to university, get married, have a family or anything, and the impact to our lives has been devastating.

“I had to stop working and am now focusing on dealing with my grief and supporting the boys through crucial years at school.

“It means I am having to live on bereavement benefits and a small pension from John Lewis and I have to scrimp and save to make sure the boys don’t go without.”

A new report by the Brain Tumour Research charity, Exposing the Financial Impact of Brain Tumours, reveals the financial impact of a brain tumour diagnosis is double that for all cancers.

Patients told the charity they suffered a loss of independence and isolation which, combined with a decline in their earning potential, brought an impact almost as distressing as the disease itself.

The report, based on the experiences of 368 people will be fed into a formal inquiry into the hidden costs of a brain tumour being led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours.

Sue Farrington Smith, CEO of Brain Tumour Research, said: “The financial penalties, the loss of independence and the consequential feelings of isolation compound the poor prognosis endured by brain tumour patients and this has got to stop.”

Visit www.braintumourresearch.org.