A daughter who lost her mum to a brain tumour is backing a high-profile fight for more research and awareness.

Jodi Hebson, 22, has spoken out about her heartache in the hope it will help to prevent other deaths. 

Her mum Susan, who ran Carlisle's Jaegar women's fashion store for years, had twice been to the doctor with what she described as a strange tickling feeling in her ear.

But it wasn't until she had a seizure in June last year that she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. 

Susan, of Croft Terrace, Penrith, died just five months later, aged 58.

Jodi, a recently qualified nurse, said it happened while she was at university. 

"Mum was completely fit and healthy. She didn't have any illnesses or any real symptoms," she said.

When she took ill, her dad John, formerly a director of car dealership Harper & Hebson, was away.

Earlier that day Susan had taken son Robbie, a promising young footballer who plays for Workington Reds and is currently on trial with Carlisle United, into the city for his driving theory test.

Robbie, now 18, noticed she was acting strangely.

Jodi said: "My brother rang me and said mum wasn't making much sense, she was slurring her speech. I told him to ring an ambulance because it sounded like a stroke."

Susan, who is well known across the local area, suffered a seizure soon after and was rushed to the Cumberland Infirmary.

Staff immediately thought it could be a brain tumour and she was transferred to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. 

She was diagnosed with an aggressive tumour called a glioblastoma and the family were told there was no cure.

Susan underwent surgery to take out part of the tumour, but it was close to the part of the brain that controls speech and movement so removing the whole thing was too high risk. She then had radiotherapy and chemotherapy to prolong her life.

"As time went on she was getting worse and worse," said Jodi. "It got to a point where she couldn't carry on with the radiotherapy and chemo. We went back to Newcastle but she really wasn't very well.

"She was given the option of more surgery, but it would only have bought her a few more months at best. 

"Mum really hated being in hospital. She decided she wanted to come home and not have the operation," said Jodi.

Susan died a few weeks later, on November 24.

"She was just amazing," added Jodi. "She was always positive. She was always more bothered about everyone else."

Following her death Jodi, alongside Susan's good friends Gwyn Jones and Loreen Hodgson, have joined forces to both raise money in her memory and fight for better research and awareness.

Statistics show that one-in-50 people who died before they are 60, die from a brain tumour. Yet spending on research is significantly lagging behind other cancers. 

Earlier this week the issue was brought to national attention when MPs debated the issue in the House of Commons.

It follows a high-profile campaign for more funding for brain tumour research, with 120,000 people signing a petition to trigger the debate - which was so well attended that MPs wishing to speak were limited to a maximum of four minutes.

Jodi said she would like to see better awareness among GPs and health professionals to help them spot the symptoms

"The only thing mum really mentioned was a kind of tickling in her ears, but she'd been to the GP," said Jodi.

Loreen added: "She never went to the doctor so this must have been bothering her, for her to go there twice."

Gwyn said: "There is a problem with diagnosis. A very high proportion of brain tumours are diagnosed when a patient arrives in A&E. There are stories of patients going to the doctors with symptoms, but they don't automatically think of a brain tumour."

In memory of her mum Jodi wants to help change that. "Because brain tumours are so aggressive, by the time people are being diagnosed it's too late. I'd like to see more people diagnosed earlier," she said.

*A Rock the House fundraiser will be held on Sunday, May 15 for Susan's Fund. Featuring Committed to Rock, Cumbria's leading contemporary rock choir, it will be held at The Warehouse in Penrith from 1pm. 

Tickets are £10 and available from Brunswick Antiques or Penrith Tourist Information Centre. Families are welcome.