Niall Kavanagh, a 19-year-old from the UK, had been experiencing worrying symptoms for several weeks, even collapsing on his high school football field during practice. He was immediately rushed to the hospital with sudden forgetfulness and an inability to speak. However, the initial diagnosis from the doctors indicated a simple ear infection, failing to recognize the severity of the situation—an undetected and lethal brain tumor.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts made, the young man's condition worsened rapidly, and tragically, just three weeks after being hospitalized, Niall succumbed to the illness.
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“I’ll never understand how Niall went from being a fit, healthy 19-year-old, playing football and living with his girlfriend, to dying three weeks after diagnosis,” his mother Claire says in an online video. “Losing him has destroyed my life and I don’t want other families to endure the same heartbreak.”
Claire says the first sign anything was wrong came after a game of football he played in September 2021. The teen called to tell his mother he had been sick and collapsed and was taken to the hospital, but doctors apparently missed the early warning signs.
“He actually went to see out-of-hours doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital on two consecutive Saturdays,” the teen’s mother explains. “But he was looked over and sent home with a suspected virus or ear infection.”
After his symptoms persisted and worsened over several weeks, Claire made him a doctor’s appointment with a general practitioner — but he never made the date. Claire says alarm bells first began ringing when Niall, from Newmarket, Suffolk, forgot he had spoken to her, and other family members started to worry too. Niall’s family rushed him to the emergency room after he became unable to walk or talk, as his condition deteriorated rapidly.
The 19-year-old was eventually taken for a scan and doctors revealed the heartbreaking news that there was a lesion on his brain, in October 2021. Doctors feared he wouldn’t survive the emergency surgery, because they had “never seen anything aggressive as Niall’s brain tumor,” according to his mother.
“It left us with almost no hope. I had to go home and tell Niall’s two younger brothers they needed to say goodbye,” Claire adds.
Niall did recover, and for three weeks was able to talk, use his phone, and breathe on his own. However, after a procedure to remove a shunt from his head, Niall failed to regain consciousness.
“He was returned to the ICU and when I saw him the following morning, he wasn’t responding like he had before,” the boy’s mother explains. “He just gradually faded after that. I was told Niall’s brain was swelling and they couldn’t do anything to stop it. Essentially, he was dying.”
Niall Kavanagh died three weeks later on Nov. 1, 2021, after doctors ran tests to determine brain stem death.
“I wanted a miracle but his surgeon agreed that having him back for those three weeks was a miracle in itself,” Claire says.
Your heart aches for this mother, who tragically lost her child far too early in life. The suddenness of it all and the initial misdiagnosis as an ear infection only add to the overwhelming sense of confusion and devastation.
This family has undoubtedly endured unimaginable hardships, navigating through an incredibly challenging ordeal. Our heartfelt wishes go out to them as they strive to heal and find solace in the midst of their grief. May they eventually find the strength and peace they so desperately need.
