A DAD is raising awareness for brain tumour research after his three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer leading to a 'life changing' few months for the family.

Arthur Ridout, from Evershot, started having dizzy spells, vomiting and headaches towards the end of 2021 but, despite several visits to the doctors, he was only diagnosed with aggressive medulloblastoma in February this year.

Arthur’s dad, Simon, said the three year old was taken to Yeovil District A&E following a ‘worrying episode’ in the park.

He claimed one of the medical staff suggested Arthur could have been 'attention-seeking'.

Simon said: “Lauren (Arthur’s mum) went down a slide with him on her lap and when they got to the bottom, he was dizzy and wanted to lie down in the dirt. When they got to A&E, they saw a few different medics and one of them suggested that Arthur could have been attention-seeking, which made us really cross. They were sent home and booked in for an optometrist appointment two days later.”

Arthur endured a 13-hour operation on February 10 to remove the tumour and, since then, has had to re-learn to "eat, talk, move and walk". He will soon begin the first of eight rounds of chemotherapy, to try to prevent the tumour from growing back.

Meanwhile, in a bid to do something to ‘turn a negative into a positive’, Simon is raising funds for Brain Tumour Research by taking part in the charity’s Jog 26.2 Miles in May Challenge.

The dad-of-two, who admits to being ‘unfit’, said: “The fundraiser is definitely a challenge for me; although I’m physically strong, I’m not a runner. I thought people would find it amusing to see a 6ft, 18 stone, farmer running around the fields and footpaths of rural Dorset. I haven’t done any running since school and even then, I was quite lazy."

Participants are encouraged to complete a distance of 26.2 miles, however they please, by the end of May, to help find a cure for the disease.

Simon said: "There’s a very serious message about the severe lack of funding for brain tumour research, which I’m hoping to get out there.

"It’s been a life-changing few months for my family and it’s given me a new perspective on everything.”

To support Simon’s fundraising, visit www.facebook.com/donate/1810339262503380 .