'My brother was told he had ear infection - weeks later he was dead'

'My brother was told he had ear infection - weeks later he was dead' Tyler Morton was just 21 when he died A 21-year-old man died just weeks after being "told he had an ear infection", his sister said. Tyler Morton, an artist from Bedford, first complained of an earache in January before the left side of his face suddenly went numb and he struggled to walk. After a trip to the hospital, he was diagnosed with an ear infection and sent home with antibiotics, according to his sister Ella. The antibiotics made no difference and his condition quickly deteriorated. Tyler started being sick and lost function on the entire left side of his body. A CT scan revealed a lesion on his brain and following a biopsy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, he was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma. He died on March 25, just weeks after his symptoms first appeared. Ella, 19, a mechanic, said: "Tyler had a CT scan, but it didn't show anything untoward. He was told he had vertigo and was given anti-sickness medication, but it didn't help at all. "I took him back to the hospital; when we arrived, he had two seizures. He was physically disabled by this point and could barely talk. “Five days later, Tyler had a CT scan, which revealed a lesion on his brain. A week later, Tyler had a follow-up scan at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The following day, he had a biopsy; a week later, we were told Tyler had a grade 4 glioblastoma. “Three weeks earlier, he was walking and talking, and now he couldn't do anything himself. He was just a body at that point. Tyler was discharged from hospital to basically pass away at home.” Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of brain cancer with no known cure. Around 3,200 people in the UK are diagnosed every year, with only one third surviving beyond 12 months. The average survival is between 12 and 18 months. Doctors told Tyler he was too ill to undergo treatment because his body would not have been able to cope. Ella said: “Everything happened so quickly and he deteriorated so fast. Tyler was an amazing older brother. He was funny and kind – the sort of brother I went to for anything. "We both lived with our nan and we were inseparable. I was distraught nothing could be done for him. "I knew you could get cancer everywhere in the body, but I didn't realise how badly it affects you if it’s in the brain. There are very limited treatment options compared to other cancers. “I was so angry and upset that we hadn't found out he had a brain tumour sooner. I definitely think a lot more could have been done for him. We were told Tyler couldn’t have any treatment because his body wouldn’t have been able to handle it. “If they had found it sooner, he probably would have had the chance to have chemotherapy. At least that would have felt like we tried. More government funding for research is vital if we are to find a cure for brain tumours. What happened to Tyler was such a traumatising experience and I don't want anyone else to go through that.” Ella is now working with the charity Brain Tumour Research during Glioblastoma Awareness Week, July 13 to 19. She completed the charity’s 200k in May Your Way challenge, raising more than £1,300 for Brain Tumour Research. Research from the charity shows that brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002. Dr Karen Noble, director of research and policy at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Tyler’s story reflects the devastating reality faced by so many families across the UK. We are calling on the Government to increase the national investment in research into brain tumours, including glioblastoma. "We need to also see an increase in the number of clinical trials, and access to them, in the UK, and we want to end inequalities in access to whole genome sequencing that could inform access to trials and emerging treatments.”