Paramedic's brain tumour missed five times by doctors
A paramedic has said her brain tumour was missed five times by doctors.
Hannah Lemanski, 24, thought she was experiencing symptoms of stress from shift work when she complained to medics about vomiting, headaches, and double vision.
She first visited her GP in February 2023 after experiencing headaches and vision problems for two months, but was sent home with no answer and told her symptoms would be passed on to another doctor.
On her fourth visit to the GP she was told she had a lazy eye.
After a fifth visit to the eye assessment clinic, an MRI scan diagnosed her with central neurocytoma – a rare brain tumour which grows in the ventricles of the brain.
She had 80 per cent of the tumour removed in surgery but two years on it is returning.
Doctors recommended gamma-knife radiosurgery to shrink the mass but this is not funded by NHS England for her specific tumour type.
The treatment is recognised by the NHS and used to treat various health conditions, including brain tumours, both benign and cancerous.
She is now fundraising to get the treatment privately.
Ms Lemanski, from Middlesborough, said she thought she was going to die when she was first told of her diagnosis.
Her wedding to her now-husband, Przemek Lemanski, 34, who was delivering invitations at the time of the diagnosis, had to be delayed.
She underwent surgery to remove 80 per cent of the tumour James Cook hospital in May 2023 and returned to work as a paramedic.
During a routine scan in March 2025, she was told her tumour is returning.
The NHS offers conventional radiotherapy, a destructive treatment which can lead to more cancer developing, but doctors told Hannah the most effective treatment is gamma-knife surgery – a non-invasive and highly targeted form of radiotherapy.
But Ms Lemanski was told by The National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital that they don't offer this treatment for her condition – and said NHS England does not commission funds for this treatment and her specific tumour type.
She applied for individual funding, but this was rejected.
She said: 'It's quite upsetting. You pay your taxes every month and you expect to be looked after when you need it. How can you not look after one of your own?
'Maybe if I wasn't someone who worked for the NHS, I might have just accepted the conventional radiotherapy route, which I think for anyone of a young age without cancer puts them at so much higher risk, especially when there's more effective treatments out there.
'I think it's quite discriminatory really, because I don't understand why someone's brain tumour is better than mine.'
Her friend Becky Calpin, 32, has raised over £12,000 to help Ms Lemanski get private treatment, but it could cost up to £20,000.
Becky said: 'Hannah is more than a paramedic – she's a bright, healthy, active young woman, married to her best friend and dreaming of starting a family.
'She's the kind of person who lights up every room – always smiling, always giving, always ready to help.'
An NHS England spokesperson said: 'We understand the importance of making decisions quickly to avoid unnecessary distress and, where treatment isn't routinely funded, clinicians can submit an individual funding request if there are exceptional clinical reasons.
'The NHS funds specialist stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy for some cancers where there is evidence of a clinical benefit over standard treatments, as part of the personalised care provided for patients.'
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