BBC Scotland’s political editor Glenn Campbell has opened up about being diagnosed with a brain tumour in a new documentary.
The Islay native, 48, says he has had a lifetime of telling other people’s stories and it’s now time to tell his own.
My Brain Tumour and Me airs at 7pm on BBC One tonight and reveals how Glenn was given between 12 and 18 months to live after a bike crash led to a seizure, and later the discovery of a brain tumour.
15 months on he is still “going strong” because he has an oligodendroglioma – a rare type of cancer that tends to respond better to treatment.
Writing for BBC News, he explained that from his hospital bed he “turned the camera on myself, not as a self-indulgence, but to spotlight a nasty cancer that’s hard to treat and even harder to beat”.
Like many journalists who share the story of others, or themselves, he said speaking about his personal tragedy “extracted some purpose”.
The documentary features footage of Glenn having a seizure as “an attempt to give an insight into living with an incurable cancer that is not well understood.”
He was climbing Meall nan Tarmachan on the banks of Loch Tay at the time and had to be airlifted to hospital by the Coastguard.
His wife Claire and mum Jennifer also describe the impact of the diagnosis on their family.
Glenn Campbell’s Munro challenge as he looks to 50th birthday
Glenn is now gradually returning to covering politics for BBC Scotland.
His next goal is to reach his 50th birthday. Meantime, he has challenged himself to climb all 282 Scottish Munros.
He’s already completed his first nine and has raised over £150,000 for Brain Power, a ‘fundraising community to fight back against brain tumours’.
Funds will be donated to Brain Tumour Research in efforts to establish a Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.
He said: “No one can tell me how I got my tumour and no one can fix it.
“I think well-resourced science can do a lot better. If not for me, for those who come after”, adding: “I am now starting to think about how to celebrate my 50th birthday in 2026 – 15 months from now.
“It’s not so long since I thought I would not be around to mark that milestone.
“Now, the half-century seems within reach.”
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