A 17-year-old London student who dismissed her persistent headaches as dehydration during a heatwave discovered they were caused by a ruptured brain tumour. Danielle Andersen, from West Wickham, endured five days of severe pain before attending A&E in July 2025, where a CT scan revealed a dermoid cyst – a benign, slow-growing tumour present from birth.
Misdiagnosed as migraine, then tumour found
Danielle's father, Justin, 55, took her to Princess Royal University Hospital in Locksbottom on July 17, 2025. Doctors initially suspected a migraine, but a consultant noticed unusual eye tracking, leading to the scan. “I thought it must be dehydration from the heatwave, and everyone else told me that. But no matter how much water I drank, the headache wouldn't go,” Danielle said. “I was in pure agony. A lot of people didn't believe how bad it was.”
The cyst required surgical removal via a craniotomy. However, Danielle opted to delay surgery to start her first term at a London performing arts college, where she had secured a place. “I didn't want to go in as the person with a brain tumour. I just wanted people to know me,” she explained.
Surgery leads to stroke and paralysis
Danielle was admitted for surgery on December 15, 2025. The operation carried odds of 100 to one against complications, according to the family. Upon waking, surgeons noticed her left arm did not rise to remove her breathing mask, initially dismissing it as “a bit of weakness.” But four days later, she was completely paralysed down her left side, with her right eye shut and head dropping to one side. An MRI revealed three blood vessels had been cut during the operation, causing a stroke.
“We had been told she'd be home by the 22nd of December,” Justin said. “We didn't leave the hospital until February 19.” Doctors were uncertain whether Danielle would ever dance again or regain full use of her left hand. “We weren't going to accept that her dreams and her life had gone down the toilet,” Justin added.
Intensive rehabilitation and recovery
Recovery relied on neuroplasticity – the brain rebuilding neural pathways to the left side of the body. Family members physically moved her toe, foot, knee, and arm, repeating each movement a hundred times daily, alongside NHS community physiotherapists and a private neurological physiotherapist. “The physios said Danielle is only getting through this so quickly because her whole family is on board,” Justin noted.
Six months on, Danielle can run, jump, and is returning to dance. She dropped out of her first year to focus on recovery and will restart in September alongside her younger sister Charlotte, 16, who also secured a place at the same college. “My physio is just turning into dancing again,” Danielle said. “Before, people had to move my arm because I couldn't move it. Now I'm dancing.”
Fundraising for intensive therapy
The family is fundraising via GoFundMe for intensive private neurological physiotherapy. Standard NHS stroke rehabilitation targets everyday functional recovery, but specialists say a dancer needs six hours of rehabilitation daily – far beyond NHS capacity. To donate, visit their GoFundMe page. King's College Hospital was approached for comment.
