A Black Country man has revealed how he grew over a foot after undergoing brain tumor surgery. Jamie Connolly always thought that his 4ft 1in height was because he was “small for his age” as a teenager.

It wasn’t until he suffered a seizure while playing a video game at age 16 that he realized his height was due to a slow-growing tumor. Doctors discovered the mass in her brain after an MRI.

Mr. Connolly, now 35, grew nearly 18 inches in just a few months after the initial surgery in 2004. He underwent three more surgeries over the next decade and is now 5-foot-7.

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The mental health assistant, who is still living with part of the tumor, said: “I was always small and even when I was at school I put it down as being small for my age. I never imagined it was a brain tumor.”

“I later discovered that the tumor was growing in a part of my brain responsible for important functions, including development and growth. Despite multiple surgeries to remove the slow-growing tumor, it has left me with changes in my vision and, as a result, I have to wear glasses.

“Part of the tumor is still there, as removing it all could have left me paralyzed.” Mr. Connolly decided to share his story as part of Brain Tumor Awareness Month, which falls in March.

Mr. Connolly, of Rowley Regis, was diagnosed with a low grade astrocytoma. He is now monitored by regular scans.

It is scheduled to hold a bake sale on Friday, March 31 as part of Wear a Hat Day, a hat-themed fundraiser hosted by Brain Tumor Research to mark the end of Brain Tumor Awareness Month. Mr Connolly added: “It will be a team effort on the day with my colleagues helping to make the cakes that I will be selling while wearing a hat and we have badges available to buy.

“I’m also going to offer a session for people to ask me questions about brain tumors. I didn’t know anything about the disease until I was diagnosed.”

“I feel lucky that my tumor is low-grade, and while I can, I will help fly the flag and raise awareness about the disease.” The theme for this year’s Wear A Hat Day is ‘looking cool for science’.

Mel Tiley, Community Development Manager at Brain Tumor Research, added: “We are grateful to Jamie for sharing his story. People can participate in Hat Day in so many easy and fun ways that the list is truly endless.”

“Wear a hat and host a walk, party, quiz night or bake sale. Or put on your thinking cap and create something totally unique.”

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