A NEW mum has tragically died after believing her dizzy spells were down to 'baby brain'.
At first, Anneka Johnstone, 33, brushed aside her frequent giddy spells before she fell while holding her daughter Sienna, then six months old.
The former dietitian was rushed to hospital in June 2019, after she began dragging her feet, where doctors eventually revealed she was suffering a late-stage brain tumour.
"It hit us all like a tonne of bricks, Anneka wanted to see her daughter grow up," husband Alan, a medical technician, from Dumfries, Scotland, said.
Initially, doctors put Anneka's dizzy spells down to the herpes simplex virus and she was given antibiotics.
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But further scans revealed she had stage-four glioblastoma - an aggressive type of cancer that occurs in the brain or spinal cord.
Glioblastoma's are the most common form of brain tumour in adults, with around 2,500 cases diagnosed every year in the UK.
There is currently no cure for the condition, according to the NHS.
Alan, Anneka's childhood sweetheart, said: "I could see the fear in her eyes, she was terrified - like anyone would be at 33 years old.
"All she wanted was to be a mum, be there for Sienna's 18th and watch her get married," he added.
Alan, 38, and Anneka met while she was 17 and Alan was 18, while he was on leave from the military, and it was "love at first sight".
The couple got married in 2015 and later had Sienna - now four - on October 13, 2018.
After being diagnosed, Anneka's health started to deteriorate, and she spent lots of her last few months in hospital.
She was eventually moved to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and stayed in the palliative care unit, where Alan would visit her often.
Alan said: "You could spend 24 hours with her but only get 30 seconds of the real Anneka."
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Anneka passed away on November 18, 2019 - six months after being diagnosed.
This year, Alan will be running the London Marathon in memory of Anneka and to raise money for The Brain Tumour Organisation.
So far, Alan has raised £55k for the charity after walking 215 miles across Scotland in a week.
Alan said: "I am doing this for the next person who is diagnosed."
The dad is calling for more government funding and a change in how they invest in the brain tumour charities.
"Hopefully I will get to the end without many tears, raise as much money as possible and share Anneka's story," he said.
