Hannah Sinclair had been a healthy and contented baby, but by the time she was 21 months old she had started waking early, screaming in pain and holding her head.

Her mother Morna, 39, a former nurse from Aberdeen, said: “The GP told us it was typical attention-seeking behaviour. I didn't really believe this.”

Hannah finally had a brain tumour diagnosed - but only when her parents videoed their daughter's seizures and presented the evidence to doctors.

Mrs Sinclair said: “There is still so much ignorance around this disease and I had to really fight to be taken seriously.”

As Hannah's condition had deteriorated, she was very tired, frequently sick, her balance became unsteady and her gait changed. Then she began to experience seizures, where “her back would arch and her eyes would roll back in her head”.

Their GP repeated that nothing serious was wrong, but eventually referred Hannah to a neurologist.

Mrs Sinclair said: “One Saturday morning she had three very large seizures in a row. We grabbed a video camera to record them and prove they were taking place and then took her to A&E.”

A CT scan confirmed the presence of a large brain tumour and a build-up of fluid, both life threatening. “It was the worst day of my life,” Mrs Sinclair said. The tumour was removed safely three days later by surgeons at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital and, fortunately, turned out to be benign.

Today Hannah is a very bubbly, confident four-year-old. However, Mrs Sinclair said: “Things might have been very different had we decided to wait for the neurology appointment, which, although an urgent referral in February, only resulted in a date for June.

“It makes me sick that other families may be going through the same worry and delays because people think brain cancer is so rare. It is not so rare that it does not happen.”

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