TV's Antiques Roadshow expert announced as new patron of Milton Keynes-based charity

Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell has been announced as patron of Milton Keynes-based charity Brain Tumour Research.

Theo, 37, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM), a highly aggressive brain tumour which carries a poor prognosis of just 12-18 months – in June 2022. Since then she has undergone life-extending surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

She said: “Being told you have an aggressive brain tumour is absolutely terrifying, but I want to reassure people that I’m living with cancer, not dying from it. It’s important to me now to do what I can to give hope to other people in this situation.”

Theo, a senior specialist in fine furniture and decorative arts at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers in Edinburgh, added: is now focusing on campaigning alongside Brain Tumour Research to help raise awareness of this devastating disease which kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

She is meeting scientists working on GBM at Brain Tumour Research’s Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London.

Ahead of the event, she said: “It took me six months to get my diagnosis. I visited multiple doctors with awful migraines, prolonged sickness and problems with my sight. No one knew what was wrong and when I finally had a scan, I was told I had brain cancer and, without surgery, had just three months to live.

“I am frustrated that it took so long to get my diagnosis, we need to change that and it’s vital that we raise more awareness of this devastating disease. It’s so important that more money is invested in research in order to improve treatments in future and, ultimately, to find a cure.”

During her tour of the laboratory Theo will place two tiles on the Centre’s Wall of Hope, each one representative of the £2,740 it costs to fund a day of research.

Theo raised the money by taking part in the charity’s Walk of Hope, an event held at locations throughout the UK in September, which raised more than £250,000.

Theo said: “I hope the money we and others raise will help make a difference for everyone who has a brain tumour. For people like me, a cure can’t come soon enough.”