Councillor Sean Kennedy takes an icy plunge for brain tumour research as he was inspired by Fiona Hawthorne who like him survived a brain tumour
Cycling nine miles from Dingwall to Loch Achilty for a wild swim on a cold, wet, windy and overwhelmingly dreich morning is not everyone’s idea of fun and nor did it turn out was fun for Councillor Sean Kennedy – but he did it anyway.
When he found out that local woman Fiona Hawthorne was raising money by taking part in Brain Tumour Research’s 99 miles in November he immediately said he would take part.
That involved getting on his bike from Dingwall with Ms Hawthorne on Saturday morning cycling the nine miles to Loch Achilty, spending a not small amount of time getting into a wet suit before entering the water.
Video footage testifies to the fact that he did not love the first kiss of the water and certainly Ms Hawthorne seemed to be a little hardier than the councillor – she certainly seemed to scream less.
Cllr Kennedy attracted a reasonable crowd all interested in seeing how he took to endeavour, particularly the brief swim in the loch which the forecast suggests has a water temperature of 2.9C.
Fiona meanwhile calmly swam to a buoy in the loch and back without too much fuss and they both celebrated getting perhaps the worst part over with – neither minded because of the cause.
Together they have both raised more than £1400 on their Just Giving pages which can be found here and is part of a larger endeavour run by Brain Tumour Research – something that matters to them both.
Despite the good cheer and much laughter that greeted the effort the motivation behind the fundraising could not be more serious as both Cllr Kennedy and Ms Hawthorne are survivors of brain tumours.
Cllr Kennedy experienced a brain tumour 14 years ago and was quite severely affected by it in the recovery phase.
During his campaign for the council he refused to discuss that a slight speech impediment is a legacy of the tumour, explaining that he didn’t want to curry favour with voters with an emotive personal issue.
However, many who knew him were well aware that he effectively had to reconstruct how he spoke as a result of the impact of the tumour, something he did, going on to successfully manage a pub, get elected and take active holidays skiing.
He said: “I want people to know that having a brain tumour is not the end of the road, many people survive and go on to lead wonderful lives, that’s my message to anyone with a tumour – don’t give up hope.
“So I am fundraising for Brain Tumour Research as they are the only national charity dedicated to funding long-term, sustainable research in the UK. Please help me fund the fight. Together we will find a cure.
“This cause is close to my heart having had a Brain Tumour removed myself 14 years ago. When I heard about my friend Fiona, who had a similar operation only a year ago, was raising funds for Brain Tumour Research I knew I had to help out.”
Ms Hawthorne’s experience was much more recent but she too said she had been affected by it and has had to alter her life but that has not stopped her being grateful that she “could start to get my life back”.
“In October 2023 I started getting crippling headaches which felt like I was being hit in the head with a hammer whenever I moved,” she said.
“My mum had been ill since late 2022 and had passed away six weeks earlier so I put the headaches down to stress and pressure so it took me a few days to visit my doctor.
“As soon as I rang my GP in the Strathpeffer Medical Practice I was taken straight in and within an hour was at Raigmore getting scanned.
“Within three days I had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and referred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and was introduced to my Neurosurgeon Anastasios Giomariadis who reassured me that my tumour was a meningioma, which is common and very treatable.
“But I was the first person he had ever come across whose tumour was bleeding so he aimed to remove it before Christmas.
“The team in Aberdeen were amazing - I travelled there on the Wednesday, had my op on the Thursday and was then home Friday with stitches from ear to ear but still a full head of hair (so very grateful for that)
“I got the call from Mr Giomariadis early January that the tumour was benign and I could start to get my life back.
“For the most part, my life is pretty much back to normal. I do struggle with severe tiredness still and my brain doesn’t quite work in the same way that it used to do: I have lapses in concentration, struggle to find words sometimes and can be very forgetful but as frustrating as that can be I consider myself very lucky - I’m still here.
“Very spookily, a year to the day of my first headache this challenge event popped up in my Facebook feed and that was a ‘sign’ I needed to get signed up to take on this 99 miles in November challenge for Brain Tumour Research.”
If you wish to contribute to the fund raising you can click here.
