Parents in plea for help over brain tumour youngster who has had 28 operations

a new bedroom.

Now his family is appealing for help to raise money to make the changes.

Mark was only six when doctors discovered he had a brain tumour the size of an orange .

He had been complaining of headaches, and his parents Michelle Gallagher and Chris Denny, both 27, would get regular phone calls from his school saying he had been sick.

Michelle said: "He had constant sore heads. Doctors kept saying he had migraines and that I was being over-protective.

"They did more tests and scans and eventually they found the tumour."

Immediately it was diagnosed Mark was taken by ambulance from Yorkhill Hospital For Sick Children to the Southern General Hospital at midnight and by 8am he was on the operating table.

The operation lasted 13 hours as surgeons tried to remove the massive tumour.

Michelle said: "It was unreal, I was numb when we found out.

"After being diagnosed, it just happened so fast. They didn't manage to get the full tumour out, but with the radiotherapy it did shrink.

"But it started growing again and he had to have even more treatment. He was last in hospital in May."

After four years of intensive treatment, including radiotherapy and 28 operations, Mark is now back at home in Crookston.

However, his aggressive forms of therapy have made him unsteady on his feet and he can no longer get to his upstairs bedroom.

The youngster is forced to sleep in the corner of the living room, on a specially adapted bed provided by the hospital.

Each night a member of his family takes it in turns to sleep on the nearby couch to be close to him in case anything happens.

Michelle, who stays at home to look after Mark, and Chris, a window cleaner, are desperate to raise £10,000 to convert their garage into an accessible bedroom for Mark.

The family say they have tried everything to get help, including applying to tele­vision show DIY SOS but were unsuccessful.

They say the extra space would give the youngster more privacy and a place where he can play with his friends, like every other boy his age.

His parents also hope they can raise enough to include a wetroom, meaning Mark would not have to rely on having bed baths, as he does right now.

Michelle said: "Mark was in hospital for eight months and before that he could do the stairs, but now he can't.

"We were talking about a chairlift to get him up the stairs, but if he gets worse we could not keep using that - the bath is not safe and the shower is too small. The Government won't fund it, and if it did it could take up to two years.

"We can't be certain Mark will still be here in two years.

"We want him to have as good a life as he can have now and we want him to have the bedroom he deserves."

Chris said a new bedroom would also help restore Mark's confidence after he was bullied at his former school.

"His confidence has dropped since this all happened," said Chris. "In his old school he did not want to go and play. He put on a lot of weight because of his steroid treatment, and kids would run around and poke him, and shout 'Catch me, catch me'.

"He thought he was different to everybody else, but he isn't.

"Now he is slowly but surely getting his spark back and having a space of his own would really help too."

Before he became ill, Mark was a happy boy who loved to dance and enjoyed playing outside with his friends.

His parents try to give him as normal a life as possible, and he loves to go to the park with his five-year-old brother Che and his dog Rebel.

Three weeks ago he started at Kelbourne Park School, Maryhill, which educates children with special needs, and has begun to build up a group of friends again.

But the fear his tumour might grow is still something that haunts his parents. Chris said: "It's always in the back of your mind. There is always a niggling feeling it could come back.

"We do not usually ask for help, but we just want to do what is best for him while we can."

Michelle said: "We are just scared at the moment. He still has to have regular operations and scans because cysts grow around the tumour.

"We are just hoping for the best for him now."

To donate to Mark's cause, see the website:

www.gofundme.com/by38k0

hannah.rodger@ eveningtimes.co.uk