‘Quietest’ Birmingham streets which suffer fewest burglaries<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nFollowing surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Amy believed she had beaten the disease until a recent annual check-up revealed the tumour’s return.<\/p>\n
The heartbreaking news came shortly after Amy experienced blurred vision and slurred speech, and just weeks before she was due to embark on a 10-day cruise around Naples, Florence and Santorini with her best friend.<\/p>\n
Adding to her distress, Amy was forced to cancel the trip as she couldn’t secure travel insurance due to her deteriorating health condition.<\/p>\n
Despite providing medical proof, cruise provider Iglu has allegedly refused to refund Amy and her friend, leaving them \u00a34,000 out of pocket.<\/p>\n
During her illustrious football career, Amy earned 16 caps playing in goal for England u17 and u19s and also played for Chelsea, Arsenal, and Reading.<\/p>\n
Amy, from Hemel Hempstead, expressed her frustration, saying: “I’m exhausted with trying – and failing – to make contact with Iglu.<\/p>\n
“They haven’t responded to either of us.<\/p>\n
“Even though they told us they can’t give us a refund, they could’ve apologised or organised a voucher.<\/p>\n
“I’m beyond disappointed with Iglu and their lack of care.”<\/p>\n
Her best mate Lucy Baker, 35, revealed that Amy had chosen to book the cruise for July 2025 as she’d “always wanted to go to Italy.”<\/p>\n
They believed a cruise would be less taxing on Amy’s health than backpacking around the country.<\/p>\n
“Amy knew she was very ill, and cruising is an easy way to get around loads of different places, rather than hopping on trains and planes,” Lucy explained.<\/p>\n
![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_SWNS_FRENCH_TUMOUR_014_025216.jpg\")
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“We were really looking forward to it.”<\/p>\n
Lucy shared that Amy even forked out an extra \u00a3800 to bring a wheelchair onboard – a fee later refunded by Iglu – because she was “so desperate to go.”<\/p>\n
However, just one month after booking the cruise, Amy received a grim prognosis from her consultant at the University College London Hospital – she only had six to nine months left to live.<\/p>\n
Iglu demanded passengers to secure travel insurance before boarding – but due to Amy’s condition, she couldn’t find an insurance provider willing to cover her.<\/p>\n
“We got in touch with [Iglu] saying we couldn’t get insurance,” Lucy said.<\/p>\n
“They were just quite heartless, really – they told us we’d have a 100 per cent loss and we weren’t offered any form of refund or voucher.<\/p>\n
“Amy’s such a good person – in fact, she’s a lovely person – and she didn’t deserve that.”<\/p>\n
Following being informed they would be unable to secure a refund from Iglu, the duo claim they have received no further communication from the travel company.<\/p>\n
Amy’s initial symptoms emerged in 2013, with an MRI scan conducted in February 2015 revealing the tumour – which was originally non-cancerous.<\/p>\n
Come July that year, it had turned malignant and Amy underwent surgery, receiving a 95 per cent chance of survival.<\/p>\n
Her operation was carried out whilst she remained conscious – using pioneering surgical techniques where the patient’s body is anaesthetised but they stay awake throughout.<\/p>\n
The procedure left her unable to move or speak for eight days – and when she finally regained her voice, she strangely communicated in her GCSE-level French for a brief period.<\/p>\n
The growth affected her motor skills, with Amy also reporting she has observed shifts in her character.<\/p>\n
Amy attended routine appointments, but soon after her examination last year, she started experiencing fuzzy eyesight and unclear speech.<\/p>\n
She returned for a further appointment in November, when doctors tragically found her tumour had returned.<\/p>\n
![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_SWNS_FRENCH_TUMOUR_006.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
“For the best part of ten years she was clear,” Lucy explained.<\/p>\n
“She was having regular MRIs. She got the all-clear in her checkup last year, but a couple of weeks later, she began experiencing blurred vision and slurred speech.<\/p>\n
“Another MRI in November showed the tumour had grown back.<\/p>\n
“The moment we found out, we told Iglu – we wanted a refund because it was a lot of money for us and they are a multi-million pound company.<\/p>\n
“[Her August prognosis] made it impossible to get travel insurance.”<\/p>\n
Amy was accompanied by Lucy and numerous other friends during a five-mile walk to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research on Saturday (27\/09) – which Amy has collected over \u00a326,000 for.<\/p>\n
![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_SWNS_FRENCH_TUMOUR_001.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Amy finished the walk on a mobility scooter.<\/p>\n
“Amy is such an inspiration to all those around her, she has battled this disease for a long time and all the while has fundraised and raised awareness for Brain Cancer Research,” Lucy said.<\/p>\n
“She is always willing to help others and is a good friend to so many people.<\/p>\n
“It’s such a shame she didn’t get to go on the cruise that she was so looking forward to.”<\/p>\n
Donations can be made here: https:\/\/www.justgiving.com\/page\/amy-carr-4.<\/a><\/p>\nA spokesperson said: “We were truly saddened to learn the reason Amy has had to cancel this holiday and we extend our deepest sympathies during this incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n
“Our thoughts are with Amy and all her loved ones.<\/p>\n
“Our team has reviewed the booking, and under these difficult circumstances, we certainly want to do what we can to help.<\/p>\n
“We are pleased to confirm that we are issuing a refund of \u00a31,500 to Amy Carr as an immediate gesture of goodwill.<\/p>\n
“While we know this doesn’t replace the holiday that was being looked forward to, we sincerely hope this gesture will offer some measure of relief and alleviate a little of the disappointment.<\/p>\n
“We know that in times like these, the last thing anyone needs is a complication, and we are sorry for any added upset this may have caused.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amy Carr, 34, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2015 after she collapsed in her bedroom upon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[12632,105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-464489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-england-football-team","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115296251948519773","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_SWNS_FRENCH_TUMOUR_007.jpg\")
<\/p>\n