Academic rising star loses fight against rare brain cancer

THE loving family of an accomplished academic who defied the odds to live with the most aggressive strain of brain cancer for more than five years has paid tribute to his life of achievement.

Donald Murray died on Sunday, more than five-and-a-half years after he was first diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme.

The 28-year-old, from Linlithgow, was a rising star in the academic world and was praised for his presentation of a classics paper at a major conference in April, despite undergoing large doses of chemotherapy.

Donald was first diagnosed with brain cancer in September 2005 while on a trip to Japan, and his mother Frances flew out to the Far East to bring him back to the Western General for treatment.

Despite having a large section of his frontal lobe removed, he stunned doctors by making a miraculous recovery and was left with no impediments.

Donald, who had a first class honours degree in classics from Durham University and a distinction in his masters degree, fought through periods of illness to continue his studies and completed around 80 per cent of his PhD. He managed to fight off the disease on several occasions and his family said he never let the illness stop him from enjoying himself or affect his work.

His sister Helen, 23, told the Evening News: "Donald was determined to finish his PhD and he threw himself into it.

"A lot of people didn't even realise he was ill.

"He didn't want them to think of him as special, of having done well considering his condition.

"He wanted them to think he'd done well because he was brilliant. Which he was."

Glioblastoma multiforme occurs in around 20-30 people per one million and just four per cent of those live more than five years.

The average survival time is just 14 months.

Donald collapsed in November 2010 at his home in Durham and was not discovered for several days. His parents brought him back to Linlithgow to recover for three months and again he bounced back, for a final time.

His mother Frances, 60, said: "He was desperate to get back to his work and went back to Durham. When he came back in May it was clear that was the beginning of the end. He never stopped being himself. Just days before he finally went, he was doing the crossword.

"Despite everything, his mind was never affected. It was the power of his mind that got him through that. For him to have lost that would have been too much. He was such a special boy."

His father Neil, 63, a lawyer, said: "He took great pride in his PhD and was determined to finish it. We don't know if anyone could pick it up, but we hope so. We'll remember his black sense of humour."The Formula One racing fan celebrated his 28th birthday with a cinema visit to see the biography of Ayrton Senna, and his sister's birthday a few days later with a family bowling trip, before he entered St John's Hospital in Livingston.

Frances added: "Even though the chances of getting through the condition are so low, he played this game where he just got on with life, and hardly ever mentioned it.

"He would occasionally say to me 'I will be all right mum, won't I?', and I said 'of course you will'.

"At least he had five-and-a-half happy years."