Skipton woman Emma Crabtree outlived an 18-month brain tumour prognosis and published a book 12 years on

Twelve years ago doctors gave North Yorkshire woman Emma Crabtree 18 months to live. She tells John Blow about her incredible luck and her children’s book.
Emma Crabtree, of Skipton, who has released a children's book. Picture: Simon Hulme.Emma Crabtree, of Skipton, who has released a children's book. Picture: Simon Hulme.
Emma Crabtree, of Skipton, who has released a children's book. Picture: Simon Hulme.

Emma Crabtree had reason to believe she would not be alive to celebrate her 40th birthday.

Diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour more than 12 years ago, the Skipton woman was given a year to 18 months to live.

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But against the odds, she celebrated her 50th birthday with twin brother Angus this week, capping off a period in which she also realised her dream of publishing a children’s book.

Emma's book is raising money for cancer research.Emma's book is raising money for cancer research.
Emma's book is raising money for cancer research.

“I know it’s a good story for hope,” says Emma “But I do appreciate that hardly any are as lucky as myself.”

Some people don’t manage to stay alive even as long as five years, she says.

“So I don’t know if I’m the longest surviving in the UK at the moment, I think I probably am, but nobody will officially tell me that. But I do feel very lucky.”

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In 2009, Emma started to get headaches and have problems with her co-ordination while working as a student support manager at the University of Leeds.

One day while driving she couldn’t feel the gear stick and lost feeling on her left side.

Her friend thought it could be a stroke so called an ambulance, and she was taken to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), where she had several basic tests.

Doctors at the time didn’t think it warranted a scan, so she went home that evening.

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In May that year, her line manager was worried and told her to return to the family home in Skipton, where her headaches intensified to the point she was “crawling on the floor to get to the bathroom” and be sick.

Her mother Sheila took her to Airedale General Hospital and insisted that they give her an MRI scan. Their instincts were right, because Emma was immediately transferred to LGI for a craniotomy and debulking of the tumour.

About a week after the surgery, she was told she had a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour (GBM), with a prognosis of 12 to 18 months.

Emma says: “You feel a bit numb, really, you don’t know what to do. I had a little cry with my mum and my sister because they were there with me.

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“My sister knew more than me, because she’d obviously looked into what sort of tumours there were and what to expect when they say what I’ve got, and which were the worst ones .

“He (the doctor) did actually just say to me, ‘It won’t go away, Emma, it won’t go away’. And then he said,‘The prognosis is 12 to 18 months’ and I thought, that’s not long.”

On July 3, 2009, she began a six-week course of radiotherapy followed by six months of chemotherapy at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds.

There is no cure for a GBM, so she is not in “remission”, but 12 years on she has far outlived her shocking prognosis.

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She has annual MRI scans and the most recent in October 2021 showed that there was no change in her condition.

Her short-term memory has been affected and she has had a couple of small seizures, but they have been controlled with medication.

Speaking about the memory loss, she says: “I might just keep asking the same question; I might go make a cup of tea for my mum, but when I get there I don’t make it so she might be waiting a bit longer.”

Sheila worries whenever Emma does get a headache, but she thinks she would know if it was serious, says the youngest of five siblings, including three sisters.

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She was able to retire from the university on the grounds of ill health and is still unable to work.

Her passions include walking – she has taken part in 100-mile hikes with friends – and international travel.

After treatment, she took a trip to New York with family for some quality time, and over the past 12 years has visited countries including Alaska, Canada, Fiji and Australia.

“I’m quite fortunate to be able to do this when I’m still this age. The university looked after me and made sure that I could have my pension early on, so I could afford to go to these places.

There’s been a lot of positives.”

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As for everyone, coronavirus put a stop to her travels in 2019, so in lockdown she decided to fulfil a long-time ambition of writing, illustrating and self-publishing a children’s book.

She bought an iPad and started “doodling” but had for a while been developing an idea for a story about friendship, based on the neighbourhood pets that came past her house.

“There’s been a little bit of excitement around that and people are asking me now if their animal can be in the next book. I think there’s a bit of a waiting list!”

The idea became The Adventures of Big Boy: Big Boy’s Birthday Walk, and a proportion of sales is going to Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity in Leeds.

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“God forbid if it came back, I might need something from them, but at the moment I’m just plodding along nicely,” says Emma.

The main character is inspired by her own late cat, Big Boy, who had spent years on the street before she took him in.

He lived with Emma for about eight years, but died while she was writing the book.

In the story, Big Boy sets out to find his friends on his birthday but, unable to find them, begins to wonder if they have forgotten.

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But they are all hiding in clever and imaginative places along the way to surprise him.

“I’ve rounded it up at the end to say that good friends are never far away,” says Emma.

It is a message she must have reflected on as loved ones surrounded her at a party on Tuesday, as she celebrated 50 unlikely years.

To buy or get information about Emma’s book, priced at £8.95 (£1 of which goes to charity), visit emmacrabtree.uk.

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