Nottingham student believed he had the worst hangover, then suddenly couldn’t speak

A Nottingham student was rushed to hospital after collapsing in his university house, unable to speak.

Ben Cornforth, who thought he was suffering the effects of a bad hangover, felt ill before collapsing in his bathroom. He told his girlfriend he was having trouble speaking.

Ben, now 24, told the Nottingham Post: “I was just at home watching TV with my uni housemates one Friday night when suddenly I couldn’t follow what was happening on the show and couldn’t speak. I felt totally out of it and dizzy. When I went to the toilet, the room felt like it was spinning and I fell over.

“I lived with my girlfriend at the time, so I said to her, ‘I don’t want to alarm you, but I can’t talk’. But I was speaking slowly and I wasn’t coherent. I was also mixing up words. At first, I tried to hide the issues because I’d been drinking the night before, so I thought I was just having the worst hangover possible.”

Ben was concerned he was having a stroke and phoned 111. After an overnight stay in hospital, a CT scan revealed that he had something unusual on his brain. Ben had an MRI scan shortly afterward.

Two weeks later, the results revealed that he had a benign tumour on his language centre. Doctors suspected that it had been there for most of his life, so it was safe to leave it. Ben was given anti-seizure medication and continued with university life.

He said: “The fact it was always there didn’t make a massive difference; it was just good news at this point, given how bad it could have been.”

However, after suffering two more seizures, a follow-up scan revealed that he needed brain surgery. In May 2023, Ben underwent a six-hour craniotomy surgery so pieces of the tumour could be extracted for biopsy.

Nottingham, UK, via Unsplash

Ben suffered side effects of the surgery such as being unable to read and struggling to follow conversations.

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The biopsy results revealed that Ben had stage 4 brain cancer at just 21 years old. He moved back home to Birmingham to be closer to family. A meeting at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital made him realise the severity of his diagnosis.

After six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, followed by a year of taking chemotherapy tablets, Ben began to recover.

He said: “My whole process going through treatment and with recovery was to always have things as normal as possible. I know I’ll need more treatment in future, but for now I am off treatment and feeling happy and healthy. I try to make the most of every day.”

Ben joined the Teenage Cancer Trust‘s Youth Advisory Group and in April he ran the London Marathon, raising £10,000 for the charity.

He said: “After being diagnosed, I would have never imagined I could have done it, but it felt incredible at the end. I think the reaction from my friends and family made me feel proud I’d been able to finish.

“I think because being active has been just a big part of dealing with my diagnosis, it felt like a celebration day of the whole last three years with all of my friends and family. It also felt so much better doing things through the charity and knowing how the money will now be spent rather than just running myself.”

If you have been affected by the content of this article, Nottingham students can call the Nottingham SU Nightline on 01159514985 or contact the Nottingham Trent mental health support team on +44 (0)115 848 6623.

Alternatively, you can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123, or contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258.

Featured image via Unsplash