![\"Craig](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Craig-Dunn-with-his-partner-Nabela-and-daughter-Serena.jpg\")
Craig Dunn with his partner, Nabela Salem and daughter, Serena(Image: Brain Tumour Research)<\/p>\nNabela Salem lost her mum shortly after her first birthday but is determined to turn pain into purposeCraig Dunn with his partner, Nabela Salem and daughter, Serena(Image: Brain Tumour Research)<\/p>\n
A South Shields<\/a> mum is fundraising for a brain tumour cure in memory of her late mother and to support her partner who has been given a devastating diagnosis. Nabela Salem, 33, lost her mum, Breda Hanlon, to a brain tumour when she was just a baby.<\/p>\n Decades later, in 2025, her partner Craig Dunn, 34, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare and aggressive brain tumour. Now, Nabela is working with Brain Tumour Research during International Brain Tumour Awareness Week to raise awareness of her family\u2019s story and the need for sustainable funding into the disease.<\/p>\n Nabela, an energy consultant, said: “Losing my mam changed my life in ways I\u2019m still coming to understand. Going through everything with Craig has brought a lot of those emotions back to the surface. Some days it feels like I\u2019m being asked to walk through grief all over again \u2013 but my mam\u2019s memory reminds me to hold tightly to the people I love and to keep going, even when it\u2019s hard.”<\/p>\n Craig, who also works as an energy consultant, first began experiencing severe headaches in April 2025. After visiting his GP, he was sent to A&E where scans revealed a brain tumour. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the mass at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)<\/a> in Newcastle and was later diagnosed with medulloblastoma.<\/p>\n Craig has since completed 35 sessions of radiotherapy at Newcastle\u2019s Freeman Hospital \u2013 including treatment to his head and spine \u2013 and will soon begin chemotherapy. “Our family life has changed completely since Craig\u2019s diagnosis,” Nabela said.<\/p>\n “We would take our daughter Serena to the park, beach, and go swimming together. We haven\u2019t been able to do those things as much because Craig has been so unwell since his radiation treatment. But watching him with Serena, how patient, loving, and playful he is, makes me so proud. He\u2019s an incredible dad, and we\u2019re doing everything we can to stay hopeful.”<\/p>\n Breda, Nabela\u2019s mum, was a bodybuilding champion who won the title of Miss British Isles Figure Building Championship in 1987. Although she was in peak physical health, she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour and had surgery at Newcastle General Hospital. She later received radiotherapy but continued her training and stayed active for as long as she could. Sadly, Breda died in 1993, shortly after Nabela\u2019s first birthday.<\/p>\n Nabela continues: “My mam\u2019s passing taught me a lot about strength, love, and being present. Those lessons are helping me now. I want Serena to grow up seeing that even when life is hard, we can still do something good. That\u2019s what this fundraising is all about \u2013 hope.”<\/p>\n Determined to turn pain into purpose, Nabela completed the Great North Run 2025<\/a> last month, raising more than \u00a38,500 for Brain Tumour Research in honour of her late mother and partner, Craig. The sum is enough to fund more than three days of research at the charity\u2019s Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London, where scientists are studying the molecular and genetic make-up of brain tumours to better understand how they develop and to identify new and more effective treatments.<\/p>\n Nabela said: “Fundraising for Brain Tumour Research has given me something positive to focus on during such a difficult time. When I found out that brain tumours receive just 1% of the national spend on cancer research, I was shocked. Despite how devastating these diagnoses can be, funding is so low \u2013 that has to change. Every donation, no matter how small, helps bring us closer to a cure.”<\/p>\n Our ChronicleLive Daily newsletter is free. You can sign up to receive it here<\/a>. It will keep you up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East.<\/p>\n Brain tumours are indiscriminate – and can affect anyone at any age and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.<\/p>\n Ashley McWilliams, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Nabela\u2019s story is deeply moving. She\u2019s shown incredible strength by turning personal tragedy into action. Her fundraising is not only a tribute to her loved ones but also a vital contribution to our mission to advance research.<\/p>\n “More than 100,000 people in the UK are living with a brain tumour or the life-long impact of their diagnosis. That\u2019s why we\u2019re calling on the Government to increase investment into research, so we can improve outcomes and bring hope to those affected.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re encouraging others to follow Nabela\u2019s lead by taking on our 99 Miles in November challenge \u2013 whether you walk, run or cycle, every mile helps fund the research that will lead to better treatments and, one day, a cure for this devastating disease.” To support Brain Tumour Research, join the 99 Miles in November challenge here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nabela Salem lost her mum shortly after her first birthday but is determined to turn pain into purposeCraig…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,31173,31174,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-224202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-south-shields","11":"tag-south-tyneside","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Breda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Breda-Hanlon-with-Nabela-Salem-in-the-past.jpg\")
Breda Hanlon with Nabela Salem in the past(Image: Brain Tumour Research)<\/p>\n![\"Nabela](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Nabela-Salem-at-the-start-of-the-Great-North-Run-2025.jpg\")
Nabela Salem at the start of the Great North Run(Image: Brain Tumour Research)<\/p>\n