Pins and needles are usually a sensation we shrug off but the sister of a woman who died from an aggressive brain cancer has issued a warning after it was one of the main symptoms.
UK woman Lydia Carfrae-Brohaska initially thought nothing of the pins and needles she was experiencing until they began to spread rapidly to her legs, until she eventually struggled to use the left side of her body.
In August 2018 she was delivered the tragic news that she had cancer, and her doctors estimated the 36-year-old only had 12 to 18 months to live.
For two years she battled the brain cancer glioblastoma, and underwent numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy until she lost her battle with cancer in May 2020.
Now, her grieving sister has issued a warning about the symptom.
"It is incredibly important to us all to raise both awareness and funding into research for brain tumours so that other families do not have to endure the suffering which we all have," her sister Carrie Carfrae told NeedtoKnow.online.
In a touching tribute, Carrie said Lydia "was, and will always be, my soulmate: my one love in the truest, purest sense of the word".
"She fought and showed incredible courage; never once missing an appointment, never once giving up hope, never once saying, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore - it’s too hard’. Lydia achieved so much in her last two years," she added.
A silver lining came after Lydia's death, the 36-year-old raised money for charity and the NHS right up until she died and her family has continued her legacy.
They have set up the Lydia's Wish foundation, raising over NZ$20,000 for Brain Tumour Research UK.
