UPDATE: |’I thought my undiagnosed brain tumour was the dodgy WiFi playing up’ News

22-year-old Lauren Freeman’s symptoms began while she was studying to be a teacher

A young woman who initially put down her puzzling health episodes during video calls to ‘WiFi issues’ was stunned to find out that the real culprit was a benign brain tumour.

Lauren Freeman, 22, received a diagnosis of an epidermoid tumour in her brain in June 2024, following months of experiencing unusual symptoms while studying at the University of Winchester.

During regular FaceTime conversations with her loved ones and boyfriend, JJ Morris, also 22, she would have vacant seizures, which she mistook for technical glitches caused by a poor WiFi connection.

However, it was an MRI scan at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge that uncovered the truth about her condition.

Lauren, now a primary school teacher from Ely, Cambridgeshire, said: “I’ve always been a daydreamer, especially when I’m tired – and being in my final year of uni, I thought that’s all it was.

“J, my boyfriend, went to a different uni so I mostly saw him at the weekend and he had started noticing these little moments on FaceTime when I would blame it on Wi-Fi, and then he noticed them face-to-face where I went quiet.

“I brushed it aside, but he was clearly worried.

“When I went home for Christmas, I brought it up with my family.

“I told them what J had noticed, and they said they’d seen something similar too – there was a time I froze on FaceTime, where I blamed it on connection issues afterwards.

“They were supportive, and we booked a doctor’s appointment straight away.

Lauren now relies on daily medication to manage her condition, which includes various types of seizures, déjà vu episodes, and prolonged auras – a type of long migraine.

She said: “Despite my diagnosis, I’m able to live a normal life and I’m thankful to the medical team who has looked after me so well.

“Brain tumours are more common than people might think.

“I’m proud of myself for still graduating Uni with a first and getting to work a full-time job that I absolutely love.

“It was a scary time, I didn’t know what having a brain tumour meant but my family have been very encouraging as have my uni and the school I now work at.”

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE

She is campaigning with the charity Brain Tumour Research to raise awareness of the disease by taking part in 200k In May, Your Way – a challenge where participants can cover the distance in any way they like.

Lauren has already raised £700 for the charity.

She said: “I want to use my own experience of the disease, to help other people.

“We must invest in research into brain tumours so that people can have access to the best and most accurate treatments.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Lauren’s story is a reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age.

“The number of brain tumour diagnoses has increased by 11% in the last decade, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.

“It’s with the support of people such as Lauren that will help us closer to finding a cure for all types of brain tumours. Good luck to all taking on the month-long challenge.”

You can donate to Brain Tumour Research via Lauren’s 200k in May, Your Way, here.