Woman, 28, who thought she was 'going mad' on Thai holiday given months to live

Woman, 28, who thought she was 'going mad' on Thai holiday given months to live Caoimhe Jennings, 28, from Ireland, thought she was 'going mad' while on holiday with her husband Ollie in Thailand to celebrate his 30th birthday A woman thought she was "going mad" on holiday with symptoms that turned out to be a terminal brain tumour. Caoimhe Jennings, 28, had gone with her husband Ollie to Thailand to celebrate his 30th birthday when she started to suffer from severe paranoia. There were many other symptoms as well, but it was the paranoia that stood out as her health deteriorated. On returning home she was told to go to hospital urgently after receiving her scan results. “I thought I was completely losing my marbles,” Caoimhe, from Derry, Ireland, said. “We had been sitting for dinner at the beach when the tide seemed a bit higher than the night before. “I was absolutely convinced there was about to be a tsunami, so I made Ollie go back to the hotel with me. I also had convinced myself that I was feeling unwell because of methanol poisoning from one sip of an alcoholic drink. I was proper paranoid. “On a boat cruise, there were giant lizards along the side of the water. What’s really crazy is that I couldn’t see them – at all – even though they were four-feet long and easily visible in all our photos.” Another instance that left her worrying something worse was at play was when she suddenly forgot how to ride a bike. Her symptoms began in January 2025, when Caoimhe had a bout of dry eyes and was advised to use drops, but this had little effect. While she wasn’t a big drinker, she would enjoy a glass or two of wine in the evening, but when she woke up violently ill it rang alarm bells. The tax specialist had just got a new job with the opportunity to move back to Ireland after living in Liverpool, and as she was just about to start before the Thailand trip she put the symptoms down to stress. However, she continued to get worse, wetting herself and waking up with her face and feet swollen. She also started to get double vision and so she visited her local opticians for a scan - where the extent of her condition was revealed. She said: “The doctor’s face dropped as I told them what was going on. I truly thought it would be nothing. Within an hour, I was in surgery for hydrocephalus, where they had to put a drain in my brain to rid of the excess fluid. And then, the next morning they told me there was a large brain tumour at the centre of my brain.” In September 2025, Caoimhe underwent further surgery which involved poking a hole in the membrane to encourage it to drain itself. Ollie proposed to her before she had surgery, which was a success, and she was positive about her future until sadly in October it was confirmed the tumour had mutated, and was terminal. She said: “When I asked what the life expectancy was, they told me it was months, not years. Chemotherapy wouldn’t help at this stage and while radiotherapy wouldn’t shrink the tumour, it could buy me some time.” In January 2026 they got married and there are encouraging signs with the tumour appearing to shrink. She added: “I’m trying to stay positive about it all now. I’m in no pain compared to what I was like this time last year. I weirdly see myself as very lucky compared to other people in these situations. I have an amazing husband, a supportive family that isn’t giving up on me and great in-laws who would do absolutely anything for me. “I know I’m going to die young, but I’m not accepting the months they’ve given me – I’m praying for years. I’m making the most of every day and I've recently started baking. I’m either getting good at it – or no one wants to upset the girl with cancer.”