Pub regulars don hats for baby Esmai's brain tumour fundraiser

Mum Chloe said it was hard to hear Esmai had a 50% survival rate

Friends and family of a baby with a brain tumour are getting ready for Wear a Hat Day, a fundraiser for research into the illness.

Esmai was seven months old when, after suffering several seizures, her mum Chloe was told she had a tumour the size of a grapefruit on her brain.

Chloe was told Esmai's condition has a 50% survival rate.

The Potters Bar pub in Stoke-on-Trent, where Chloe works, is hosting the event on Friday.

Chloe, 26, first noticed something was wrong in October 2021 when Esmai appeared to be staring into space.

She took Esmai to a walk-in centre where she was diagnosed with a form of seizures and sent home.

Later that day Esmai suffered more seizures and was taken by ambulance to hospital where she again was diagnosed as suffering absent seizures.

Mum Chloe said fundraising is needed so tumours can be detected earlier

But Esmai continued to worsen and three days later was taken to A&E where she had a seizure which lasted 20 minutes.

"I scooped her up in my arms as the machine she was attached to started beeping and asked what was going on and a team of doctors ran in and she was put on oxygen and they took her for a CT scan," Chloe said.

The CT scan revealed the tumour, a high-grade anaplastic ependymoma.

Chloe said: "I was sat down by the professor and surgeon who told me that this type of tumour is rare and can keep growing back.

"They said she would need at least a year of chemotherapy treatment and that the tumour is life-threatening with a survival rate of 50%.

"It was hard to hear, but I would rather know what we are dealing with."

'Horrendous experience'

Esmai will continue to receive chemotherapy until November. Further treatment of radiotherapy is available when she is older, should the tumour grow.

On Friday, the Potters Bar pub in Meir Park will be hosting an event as part of Brain Tumour Research's Wear A Hat Day.

Staff have already helped to raise £800 for the charity through a Christmas raffle and are aiming to raise even more by encouraging pub goers to donate and wear their favourite hat. They are also holding a quiz the day before.

Chloe added: "My family and colleagues have been incredibly supportive and alongside talking therapy I have a great network around me.

"We need to better understand how to detect brain tumours earlier and how they can be treated so other families don't have to go through this horrendous experience."