Walking challenge to mark brain tumour journey

Lauren Papadopoulos Green (above) is completing a month-long walking challenge

A woman from Surrey who temporarily lost the ability to walk because of a brain tumour is taking on a month-long walking challenge to mark more than a decade since she was diagnosed.

At 18 years old, Lauren Papadopoulos Green, from Ashford, was given a 5% chance of survival after doctors told her she had a schwannoma tumour.

Nearly 12 years on, she is aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day throughout February to raise money for charity.

Ms Papadopoulos Green, 29, said: "There was a time I never thought I'd be in this position, let alone be able to walk again, so to be walking every day for around two hours each day feels like a great way to commemorate when my brain tumour journey began."

Ms Papadopoulos Green was given a 5% chance of survival aged 18

"I want to be a person who can support 18-year-old Lauren who had no idea what being diagnosed with a brain tumour meant," said Ms Papadopoulos Green.

"I have so many unanswered questions from when I was first diagnosed."

She was told her tumour had started to grow again in April 2023 and, as a result, experiences myoclonic seizures which cause involuntary muscle twitches.

Ms Papadopoulos Green's brain scan in 2023

"My seizures are irregular and unpredictable which makes getting around very testing sometimes," Ms Papadopoulos Green said.

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said Ms Papadopoulos Green had "been a huge support to the charity".

According to Brain Tumour Research, brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.