A university lecturer who went to the doctors thinking he had a fly stuck in his ear ended up with a devastating diagnosis.
Michael Walton, who taught psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University first visited his GP after noticing a persistent buzzing sound.
The 30-year-old thought he was attending a routine appointment, but was given the devastating news he had a rare brain tumour.
He is now unable to close his eyes or use facial expressions, and relies on a ventilator 23 hours a day.
Doctors said the cause of the buzzing sound - or tinnitus - in his ears was the result of a 3cm hemangioblastoma, a rare type of tumour on his brain stem, formed mainly of blood vessels.
In a cruel twist, he was just weeks away from finishing his PHD at the time of his diagnosis.
Michael, from Southport, has since undergone six rounds of brain surgery - the last of which his family feared he might not pull through.
He has now been left with severe and permanent symptoms, including being unable to close or move his mouth, eat or drink, stand or walk.
He has also developed Bell's Palsy, a type of facial paralysis that results in an inability to control facial muscles, which means he can no longer close his eyes.
Since Michael’s surgery, he was in the Intensive Care Unit at the Walton Centre in Merseyside for 506 days.
His sister, Stephanie Russell, told the ECHO the chance of Michael’s future prospects improving is “very slim”, but he is “committed to maximally improving his quality of life as much as he can”.
She said: “Over the past year Michael has improved marginally in some areas, however he is fully ventilated with a tracheotomy.
"Michael can come off for around one hour per day, which is just for a safety net in case the ventilator was to break, to allow time for repair or a new fitting.
“The use of the ventilator significantly lowers his life expectancy, in addition to preventing him being able to speak, drink or eat food.
“This has caused issues with his vision, alongside ulcers in his eyes. It also causes a weakness and lack of movement on both sides of his face. Michael is unable to create facial expressions, express emotion, or close and move his mouth in anyway.”
Stephanie added: “One of Michael's most challenging outcomes is the loss of function and strength in his entire body. He is unable to stand up, or walk in any way.
“Alongside this, Michael was always left-handed, and unfortunately his left side of his body was affected much worse, causing him to now need to use his right hand for the limited function he currently has.
“Michael can still wave, as seen in the picture. The future prospects of this improving are very slim, due to the weakness caused by the surgery and subsequent muscle loss from his time in intensive care.
"Michael’s rehabilitation causes him to become exhausted, but he is committed to maximally improving his quality of life as much as he can.”
In order for Michael to communicate with them again, Michael’s family and friends have launched a £4,000 appeal to help purchase special eye-gaze technology.
It would enable Michael to communicate with the world through a robust, accurate eye-tracking devices and software.
A special eye tracking camera would be mounted below the screen, and would observe one of Michael’s eyes.
You can donate to the appeal here .
Nik Dodd, who launched the fundraiser for Michael, said: “Michael’s cognitive functions are all still fully active. Michael mentally is still the same person that went into that surgery, he asks questions which demonstrate his intelligence, understanding and care.
"He even shows a sense of humour and spells words which most of us couldn’t spell at the best of times.
“We want to purchase the eye gaze technology in order to finally give him back a voice, allowing him to communicate and express himself again."
