A University of Sheffield medical student who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at 16 years old is now encouraging people to try out new things and be positive through her social media following.
Fiona Kwan, 19, Heeley, Sheffield, underwent major surgery at 16 to remove her brain tumour and was inspired to be a doctor because of her experience.
In May 2020, Fiona felt extreme headaches and vomited for five days straight when she was at home because of her GCSE being cancelled due to the pandemic.
Fiona said, “I couldn’t sleep, eat or walk, I even went blind for a while because the brain tumour was compressing some of my nerves.
“That pain is like wanting to chop a limb off your body.”
After five days of torture, Fiona went to the A&E and had a brain scan, which resulted in the diagnosis of a five-centimetre diameter brain tumour.
The 16-year-old was hospitalized right away and had her surgery done in three days, but after the surgery, it took Fiona weeks to learn how to walk again. Fortunately, there weren’t any long-term complications.
Fiona said, “Before the diagnosis, I promised myself I would never become a doctor because I thought it was such a prolonged career, there’s never going to be an endpoint. I thought it was not worth it.
“But after the surgery and talking to my consultants, neurosurgeons and nurses, I thought there is so much gratitude in everything a doctor does, especially when you talk to so many patients.
“I wanted to make something good out of this bad experience and decided to become a doctor.”
Fiona graduated from her A-level with 4 A* and now she is a first-year medical student at the University of Sheffield.
The 19-year-old said, “Medical school is stressful but it gives me a sense of purpose and I have a goal to work towards.”
Fiona loves telling people about her day in medical school and encouraging people to attend medical school, especially through her social media account.
She started her TikTok and Instagram account in the summer of 2022 and now she has 34.3K followers.
“I really advocate for starting social media for anyone who wants to because it opens so many doors for you with so many opportunities.
“I started off with videos telling people how I got into medical school and slowly switched my content to a more personal life journey, it is informative, not just from a medical student perspective but also as a brain tumour patient.
“I have many people DM me saying how brain tumours made them want to be medical students. I love hearing about people’s stories and helping people.
“I would say to those who are going through a similar medical situation that their pain is valid, it is normal to feel like it never ends, but it will end eventually.”