Sinister reason behind bride-to-be's 'scary music' in her head
A 29-year-old bride-to-be who could hear "scary music" in her head was initially told the noises were down to stress before being diagnosed with a brain tumour and undergoing surgery two days before she was due to get married.
Emma Bond, from Newton-le-Willows in north-west England's Merseyside, first experienced the bizarre noises when she was working on a hospital ward in June 2019.
After initial tests, a doctor said her symptoms were likely down to stress and advised her to take some time off work.
But the noises persisted and Emma was eventually referred to a specialist cancer centre, where she was diagnosed with a tumour.
"I had just done some training on a device for one ward and I went to introduce myself to another ward and as I went to the desk I started hearing music in my head," Emma, who works for a health care company which makes respiratory products, said.
"I think it was the geriatric ward and I was thinking: 'Why are they playing this music on the ward?'
"I was really confused and I had to walk outside. I was thinking: 'What was that?'"
Emma started to hear the music again over the next few days so went to the emergency department with her strange symptoms.
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However, after conducting tests a doctor told her she was perfectly fine and it was likely down to stress and advised her to take some time off work.
"The first few times it happened were the worst, it was quite scary. I was thinking I'm not stressed, there's something going on," Emma said.
"I could hear music but when people were responding to me I also thought they were also singing the lyrics to the song."
Music symptom leads to shocking diagnosis
She continued to hear music several times a day and so her general practitioner booked her in for a scan at Whiston Hospital.
The scans revealed something that concerned doctors and she was immediately referred to The Walton Centre where they discovered Emma had a grade-two brain tumour.
A couple of months after first hearing the music she was booked in for surgery, two days before she had planned to marry her fiancé, Edd Blake.
Thankfully, surgeons were able to remove 95 per cent of the tumour, and the operation was followed up with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
As soon as she had the tumour removed, a relieved Emma said she no longer heard the music.
Asked to describe what the music was like, Emma said: "This is going to sound weird but when it was happening, I knew the song, I could hear it and felt I had heard it before.
"But I cannot even speak what it was saying – it was very strange.
"The only thing I really remember was why would they be playing this kind of music on a geriatric ward – I must have been thinking it was like Kanye West or something like that.
"It would be in my head for about 30 seconds and then it would go."
Despite her experience, Emma wasn't put off listening to music, something that was helped by her friends and family choosing her Spotify playlist while she was undergoing radiotherapy.
For her very last radiotherapy session, her dad had made a playlist of music to listen to.
"The very last songs on the list chosen by my dad was Chumbawamba's I Get Knocked Down But I Get Up Again [Tubthumping] and You'll Never Walk Alone," Emma said.
Bride-to-be now fundraising for treatment centre, hospital
Emma and fiancé Edd were so impressed with the treatment she received they dedicated 2020 to fundraising The Walton Centre and Clatterbridge Hospital in Bebington.
“I was so grateful for all the support both The Walton Centre and Clatterbridge were giving Emma, I just had to do something," Edd said.
"So we came up with the crazy idea of me running a mile a day for a year and fundraise as we go.
"I’ve been overwhelmed with the support we’ve had from friends, family, colleagues and beyond, it’s been amazing.”
Edd completed his challenge on December 31, totalling 366 miles (589 kilometres).
So far they have raised more than £8,500 (AU$15,146) and they’re aiming for £10,000 (AU$17,819) before they close the appeal in March.
– Australscope
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