Man needs lifesaving surgery for brain cancer

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Renaldo Robertson was especially grateful yesterday for being able to celebrate another birthday.

However, because of the medical condition the 35-year-old is battling, there is a likely chance he will not have any recollection of the memories made and smiles shared with loved ones.

Four years ago, while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in a vehicular accident Robertson received news that would change the course of his life.

“Somebody hit my mirror Christmas Eve night and glass ended up slicing my eye so I ended up having to have surgery to save my eye and while they were doing that, they ended up finding the tumour.”

Robertson has since been fighting against a meningioma tumour, which has grown from the size of a golf ball to orange in mere months. According to a medical journal, a meningioma is a tumour that forms on membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord just inside the skull. Specifically, the tumour forms on the three layers of membranes that are called meninges. These tumours are often slow-growing. Many are not cancerous.

As Robertson celebrates his birthday, fear overshadows what should be the joyful occasion.

“I have to act on it now and I have to get it out, it was a very scary thing to hear my doctor say that if I don’t act now it can actually kill me. Sometimes you never think what it means to die.”

But one of Renaldo’s biggest concerns, however, is that this particular type of tumour may be more common than many suspect.

“I posted it up on Facebook and somebody else told me their mum had it and their friend had it and I see so many others commenting that they knew someone who was diagnosed with having the same tumour.”

Despite his indomitable spirit, Robertson now runs the risk of not even getting the lifesaving surgery needed as the COVID-19 pandemic tore through his savings.

“I was just starting a new project in march I was taking over a new night club and I was taking all my events there and then the night of the opening we got our first COVID-19 case so we had to close and it took a lot of investment out of me.”

Memory loss and frequent seizures have not held back the man aspiring to change the world for the best and from making a mark, but if he wishes to march on, all hopes hinge on his birthday wish which is to raise the money needed to save his life.

Anyone wishing to assist Robertson can make donations to his Gofundme account or contact him at 299-3039.