Carlton: Brain tumour patient thanks staff who helped her talk again

Nora Flynn cannot remember anything from two weeks before her collapse

A woman who had a golf ball-sized brain tumour removed has thanked the team who helped her talk again.

Nora Flynn, then 29, from Nottinghamshire, was rushed to hospital in June after collapsing in the street.

Scans found the tumour, but despite being benign it had damaged parts of her brain, including those controlling movement and speech.

She said the staff who helped her during nearly two months of intensive treatment were "absolutely amazing".

Emma Dent, a speech and language therapist, said Ms Flynn recovered unusually quickly

Ms Flynn, of Carlton, had been experiencing extreme fatigue and dizzy spells for a year, but blood tests had come back clear.

Four days after her collapse, she underwent brain surgery, however the extent of damage was unclear at first.

Ms Flynn said: "My last memories before waking up on the D10 ward were from May, so I've lost a couple of weeks before I collapsed.

"To begin with, I could open my eyes but couldn't move my face or make any expressions, and I could only just move my arms and legs.

"Then I could only give a thumbs up or down, and eventually I progressed to be able to write on a whiteboard, but I still couldn't talk as I could only just open my mouth."

'First word'

A consultant told her that given the rate of how slowly these tumours grow, it had probably been there for at least 25 years.

Ms Flynn went to Linden Lodge rehabilitation unit at Nottingham's City Hospital, where she worked with therapists to regain her mobility, independence and speech.

She said: "We were playing a game where the therapist was counting and I had to try to say the next number.

"She counted one, but I couldn't do two or three. And then she counted three and I managed to say 'four'. So that was my first word."

Nottingham City Hospital is run by Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust

Emma Dent, a speech and language therapist who worked with Ms Flynn, said: "It's rare for us to see patients who aren't able to speak at all recover so quickly.

"So I was particularly surprised when Nora said her first words and was able to speak normally quite soon after that, the therapy we were doing with her seemed to unlock something in her brain."

Ms Flynn said: "I am very lucky to have recovered so quickly, partly because I'm so young and determined, but also because of the staff on D10 and Linden Lodge, including the custodial staff.

"They were all absolutely amazing, and I didn't have a single negative experience."

Ms Flynn was able to return home at the end of July and has recently gone back to work.