Father and son ‘overwhelmed’ by generosity after brain tumour diagnosis

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Paul McDaid’s son, also called Paul, was diagnosed with a frontal lobe tumour and underwent surgery to partially remove it.

While doctors were initially satisfied with the outcome of the surgery, later scans found a new anomaly had formed and Paul, who is autistic, would need further treatment.

The 28-year-old - who celebrated his birthday on Sunday - is now scheduled to have six weeks of radiotherapy from Monday to Friday in Belfast, followed by a sequence of chemotherapy.

In recent weeks, family friend Deborah Lamb set up a Go Fund Me page to help support Paul Senior and Paul Junior with travel and day-today costs while he undergoes treatment in Belfast.

In response, people across Derry and beyond really dug deep and raised over £1600 for the fundraiser, something Paul Snr described as ‘totally overwhelming.’ He told how the donations will make a huge difference to them both as they travel up and down to Belfast each day.

“Paul doesn’t want to stay up there - he would rather come home each day, as he doesn’t really want to interact with too many people and just wants to get it done and back to Derry again. The money raised with make an unbelievable difference. I’m really overwhelmed by the generosity of people and I don’t know how to truly thank them. How do you express that kind of thanks, really? There are a lot of good people out there.”

Paul, whose home was damaged by the floods of the weekend while Paul Jnr was over visiting, said his son was diagnosed after his counsellor noticed some personality changes. Subsequent scans identified the tumour and Paul Snr described learning about the diagnosis as ‘like being hit by Mike Tyson - and it was very emotional’.

Both father and son are adopting a healthy lifestyle while they await Paul’s treatment and Paul Snr said his son is ‘fairly laid back about it all’.

A lover of video games, Paul Jnr is also a big fan of animals and has finches and a dog, who he adores. Paul Snr said he has been given hope from others who have previously been diagnosed with frontal lobe tumours and who are now doing ‘well’.

“I’ve met so many people who have gone through what we are and they’re doing well. It’s like someone knew I needed to hear the positive stories and have some hope and it did give me that. There are a lot of good people out there, especially here in Derry. It’s just a different breed of people and we’re really grateful for all the support.” The Go Fund me page was closed when it reached its target and both men also expressed their thanks to Deborah.