A four-year-old boy is fighting for his life after his brain tumour symptoms were dismissed as an iron deficiency.
Finley was rushed into emergency brain surgery after weeks of alarming symptoms.
The schoolboy began suffering from persistent projectile vomiting around two months ago.
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His mother, Courtney McNally, 31, says she knew something wasn’t right long before doctors recognised the severity of his illness.
“At first, the symptoms were subtle,” Courtney, an SEN teaching assistant, from Wolverhampton, told Need To Know.
“He started projectile vomiting daily but then straight after he’d be absolutely fine.
“After a few weeks I noticed he just wasn’t his usual, vibrant self.
“As a mum, you notice when that spark in your child’s eyes starts to dim, even before the physical symptoms really take hold.
“He became extremely lethargic and complained of exploding headaches.
“His personality changed too – he went from being an active little boy to someone who just wanted to lie in the dark.”
Despite her concerns, a visit to the GP only resulted in Finley being diagnosed with iron deficiency following a blood test.
He was sent home with supplements and dietary advice.
Courtney said: “I desperately wanted to believe the GP because the alternative was too scary to think about.
“But as he got worse, I knew they were wrong.
“Iron deficiencies don’t cause a child to lose their spark or have projectile vomiting, or screaming in pain from a headache.
“I felt like I was screaming for help and no one was listening to the severity of what I was seeing at home.
“He wasn’t bouncing back.
“I knew in my gut that something was wrong, and I couldn’t ignore that mother’s instinct telling me this was more than just a passing virus.
“The headaches were clearly agonizing for him.”
As Finley’s condition worsened, Courtney says her fears intensified.
Eventually, his symptoms became so severe that she and her family took him to A&E.
Doctors carried out an MRI scan revealing a large brain tumour causing hydrocephalus, a dangerous build-up of fluid in the brain that can be fatal if left untreated.
Just over a week ago, in March 2026, Finley was diagnosed and rushed into emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain.
He later underwent a second operation to remove the tumour.
Courtney described the moment she received the news as “absolute, cold terror”.
She said: “You feel the world stop spinning.
“You feel numb.
“I remember screaming ‘my god, not my baby, please don’t take my baby’.
“I felt sick and unsteady.
“My heart literally ached and I couldn’t breathe.
“You never think it’s going to be your child.
“My heart broke for him, but I knew I had to be his anchor.
“I couldn’t let him see me break, because if I looked scared, he would know his world was falling apart.
“He will always look to me for his strength, and I cant let him down.
“When we explained it to Finley, we kept it very simple.
“We told him he had a boo-boo in his head that the doctors needed to fix so he could feel better.
“It’s heart-wrenching because he is so young, he doesn’t understand why he has tubes coming out of him or why he can’t just get up and play.
“Keeping a brave face for him while your heart is breaking is the hardest job I’ve ever had.
“Having to watch him scream in pain whilst doctors try and make him better is so heartbreaking.”
While the tumour has now been confirmed as benign, meaning non-cancerous, doctors warned that its location and the pressure it caused made it life-threatening.
Courtney says she is struggling with feelings of anger and heartbreak over the earlier misdiagnosis but she hasn’t made a a complaint.
She said: “We trust doctors to be the experts, and to be told iron deficiency while a tumour is growing in my four-year-old’s head is a very hard thing to swallow.
“We lost precious time that Finley spent in pain.”
Finley is currently recovering in hospital after major neurosurgery.
He has had an External Ventricular Drain (EVD) fitted to help remove excess fluid from his brain, while doctors monitor whether he will need a permanent shunt.
The tumour has left him with weakness on his left side, meaning he will now require intensive neuro-physiotherapy to regain movement.
Courtney said: “Now that we know it is benign, the outlook is much more hopeful, but the road is long.
“I feel like I am living in a nightmare that I can’t wake up from, but I don’t have the luxury of breaking down.
“Every time I look at Finley, seeing him so small in that hospital bed, tethered to a brain drain, struggling to move his left side, my heart breaks into a million pieces.
“There are moments of absolute, suffocating fear, especially at night when the ward is quiet.
“But then morning comes, and I see his bravery, and I have to find a strength I never knew I possessed.
“I’ve gone from being a mum who worries about school shoes and scraped knees to a mum who has to understand intracranial pressure and neurosurgical reports.
“I’m running on pure adrenaline, prayer, and an unwavering love for my boy.
“I’ve had to become his voice and his protector in a way I never imagined.
“I’m exhausted, I’m heartbroken for the childhood he is missing right now, but I am also more determined than I have ever been.
“I won’t stop fighting until my happy, vibrant boy is back where he belongs, home, healthy, and safe.
“Finley is a warrior.
“He’s been through so much trauma, surgery, and pain, yet he is still fighting.
“He has bad days with agitation because his brain has been through so much, but he is showing us every day how brave a four-year-old can be.”
The family have set up a fundraising page to cover expenses such as petrol, bills, food while Finley is in hospital and any essentials to make life easier the family when they get home.
To donate, go to: www.gofundme.com
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