A dad who has battled four brain tumours has explained how he found one after developing a craving for olives. Dan Horrocks, 33, was diagnosed with his first life-threatening tumour in August 2011 and went through brain surgery and started regular scans.In May 2014 he was told he had another brain tumour and required surgery and radiotherapy.
A third mass in his brain was then identified in July 2018 after Dan developed an unusual symptom and started craving olives, spinach and tomatoes for breakfast. He hadn’t liked olives before. This was followed by his latest – a tumour in his brain and one on his spine – which were spotted in October.
After 14 years including radiotherapy, four brain surgeries, one spinal operation, and six-monthly scans, Dan is now on his ‘last roll of the dice’. The dad-of-one has almost run out of treatment options in the UK and has raised £40k to go to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, US, to explore pioneering treatments including genetic testing to find a personalised remedy.
Dan, a senior parliamentary researcher and Metropolitan Special Constable, from Battersea London, said: “I’m utterly bowled over and delighted with the amount of support and generosity we’ve received. I’m so shocked and overwhelmed with how quickly the money has come in.This could be the first step towards an innovative new treatment we can bring to the UK.
“The NHS staff have all been amazing – they said they can do surgeries but not much else more. That felt a bit like the end of a road and I’ve always tried to avoid that.”
Dan and his wife, Sonia Khan, 32, who works in public affairs, have raised over £50k so far – smashing their £40k fundraising goal. The money will be spent on travel and consultations – including genetic tests on Dan and his tumour samples – to see if a personalised treatment can be found.The couple say more targeted radiotherapy is also available in the US.
The couple – who both grew up near Birmingham, West Midlands – met and fell in love in 2010 when Dan was studying politics and international relations at Aston University and Sonia was at college. Dan was diagnosed with his first of four brain tumours after suffering excruciating headaches, sickness, and dizziness.
GPs gave him medication to help with his balance, recommended acupuncture, and prescribed antidepressants. Eventually the golf-ball sized grade two benign tumour was diagnosed after a free eye test at Vision Express when the optician spotted swelling on Dan’s optic nerves.
He was rushed to A&E at Russells Hall Hospital then had brain surgery the next day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Birmingham, followed by radiotherapy. Dan said: “I’m eternally grateful to that optician, that eye test saved my life – I never turn down a freebie.”
Dan had to learn to walk, talk and “think” again after the surgery. He was left with difficulty balancing, and problems with hearing on his left side and reduced use of his left hand.Steroids made him gain weight and caused swelling which knocked his confidence.
Despite his illness Dan graduated with a 2:2 degree and the pair moved to London in 2013. Dan was diagnosed with a second, grade three, tumour – in his brain stem after a routine scan.All Dan’s five tumours have been apendymomas – rare severe tumours which usually affect children around age five or adults around age 45.
Dan said: “The mask they fit for targeted radiotherapy is so tight you can’t blink. I experienced panic attacks for the first time – it was horrible.”
The cancer came back again at the front of his brain where emotions are processed. It was picked up by another routine scan but also Sonia and Dan noticed odd symptoms.Dan started craving olives – which he hadn’t liked before – and also wanting spinach and tomatoes for breakfast.
He had brain surgery again at QEH and then radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea. Dan said: “After the surgery for the third tumour I found it easier to express my emotions – I’m more empathetic and get upset more easily.”
Dan adopted his therapy dog Bella, a Shih Tzu, now nine, from Battersea Dog’s Home in 2019. Bella helps him keep to a routine because his short-term memory has been damaged by radiotherapy.Dan and Sonia married in 2020 and had their son, Elijah in 2022.
Dan said: “He’s a great happy little boy and gives me new determination to get through this. The idea of him having to grow up without his dad is too upsetting.”
Dan was diagnosed with a stage three tumour in his brain and one in his spine in October. He had brain surgery in November and spinal surgery in December.The tumours are in cells which line the paths where cerebral spinal fluid moves through the spine, and the cancer could come back anywhere in his spine or brain.
He’s having radiotherapy on his brain and spine at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. This time it will take Dan up to six months to recover.And doctors have said he’s had the maximum radiotherapy they can safely give him on the NHS, and chemotherapy is only likely to be 14% successful in treating his tumours.
If a treatment can be found in the US Dan and Sonia will have to fundraise again, they’ve said. Dan says he operates on an ‘ignorance is bliss’ protocol to help him cope.He said: “I don’t ask the doctors for a prognosis because I don’t want to know – my situation is so rare they wouldn’t be able to tell me anyhow.
“I just go through every day and only think about this stuff if I have to. I find having a positive attitude is the only way forward.The treatment I’m having now puts me at three times the risk of heart attack or stroke, so to borrow my favourite phrase of Churchill’s I have to keep buggering on.”