'Fundraising for Brain Tumour Research has given me something positive to focus on'

WOMAN WHO LOST MUM TO BRAIN TUMOUR TELLS STORY AFTER PARTNER'S DEVASTATING DIAGNOSIS

- By EMILY GRAY

Craig Dunn with his partner, Nabela, and daughter Serena

A SOUTH Shields mum is fundraising for a brain tumour cure in memory of her late mother and to support her partner who has been given a devastating diagnosis.

Nabela Salem, 33, lost her mum, Breda Hanlon, to a brain tumour when she was just a baby.

Decades later, in 2025, her partner Craig Dunn, 34, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare and aggressive brain tumour.

Now, Nabela is working with Brain Tumour Research during International Brain Tumour Awareness Week to raise awareness of her family’s story and the need for sustainable funding into the disease.

Nabela, an energy consultant, said: “Losing my mam changed my life in ways I'm still coming to understand. Going through everything with Craig has brought a lot of those emotions back to the surface.

“Some days it feels like I'm being asked to walk through grief all over again - but my mam’s memory reminds me to hold tightly to the people I love and to keep going, even when it's hard.”