'Running for hospital that cared for son will be emotional'

The mother of a boy who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour has said it will be "emotional" to run a marathon in aid of the hospital that treated her son.

In November 2024, Manx resident Rebekah Dalrymple's son Hector, then aged five, was waking in the night with headaches and feeling nauseous in the day.

Rebekah said: "We knew that was out of character for him," but the family were initially told by doctors that it was likely a virus.

"We took him to the GP three times over the course of a couple of weeks, because it just wasn't getting better. He was waking up in the night, crying, and then vomiting from time to time in the day and he said his food tasted strange.

"For me that caused concern that it may be more of a neurological thing.

It was the third time going to the GP when Hector was sent for various scans, and shortly after they found themselves sent to Ronaldsway Airport to get the air ambulance to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

"That period of time was horrendous," she said, "but in that moment it was almost like an out-of-body experience, I felt like I was looking at my life from the outside."

A rare type of tumor which grows near the pituitary gland called craniopharyngioma, only 30 children are diagnosed with it in the British Isles each year.

"That was one of the hard things, I wanted to research it and see other people's accounts but there wasn't loads out there that had followed a UK pathway.

"I ended up making an Instagram account to document it, and share it with other people who may be in a similar situation.

Hector received surgery in Alder Hey children's Hospital Liverpool as well as a rare treatment called Proton Beam Therapy - a highly targeted form of radiotherapy, provided at the Christie NHS FoundationTrust in Manchester.

The family stayed in an apartment provided by the Christie for six weeks while Hector received treatment.

"When we were over there it was a complete overhaul of our lives, and Hector needed to fast for his treatment, so as a family we all did.

"One of the times that I was driving from Liverpool to Manchester, I think I was crying 80% of the way because I just didn't want to go, I knew I had to, but I didn't want to put him through it.

"But once we got there, it is just the most amazing centre, it's unreal, and every visitor who came to see us, said the same- that it is just an amazing place."

Now aged six , Hector is "very sensible, really bright, funny and he has got the most infectious laugh you've ever heard. He's amazing," she said.

But "he's lost a lot of control in his life," she said, and he will be left with lifelong impacts due to the treatment.

"It felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because

While things are "looking positive" for Hector, "we have always known that he was never going to come away totally unscathed from the treatment, but it was a sacrifice we had to make.

"I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place, then Hector's life would have been significantly impacted, but there is still an inevitability that he is going to have some lifelong outcomes from the proton beam therapy," she continued.

While Hector was receiving treatment last year, the family were in Manchester during the Marathon.

"Hector drew the logo for the Christie and said I am going to bring this next year, and that planted a seed for me - I thought maybe I should do that, because as I was watching I was thinking, 'what's my excuse not to do this?'," she said.

Set to run the Manchester Marathon alongside four friends on 19 April, the group had raised over £10,000 as a "thank you" to the Christie.

"I'm looking forward to the atmosphere but I feel really emotional about being back there on that day," she added.

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