Matt Carpenter, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at 28, is taking on a gruelling trek to Everest Base Camp to raise awareness and show fellow survivors that ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel’
Matt Carpenter on Mt Kilimanjaro in 2025(Image: Submitted)
A Hull event medic who survived a brain tumour wants to show others going through the same challenge that “there is light at the end of the tunnel”. Matt Carpenter was 28 when he was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour. He now takes on challenges to raise awareness of the symptoms, to show others that life continues after treatment, and to thank the charity that helped him through.
Matt’s next big challenge will be a gruelling trek on the Everest and Gokyo Lakes Circuit, ending at Everest Base camp in Nepal. Matt – who says “nothing in my life has been easy so far, so why take the easy route now” – will undertake the challenge in May next year. He chose to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support after the help he was offered while undergoing chemotherapy for his brain tumour.
While the tumour was diagnosed in 2018, Matt had had a CT scan eight years previously, but it was not picked up at the time. Once he started to show symptoms, he received a second CT scan. Future analysis of the 2010 CT scan results showed the tumour had been there for at least eight years without being picked up by medics. A Macmillan nurse who worked at Hull’s Castle Hill hospital read an article about Matt on Hull Live and contacted him, saying that just because his tumour wasn’t cancerous doesn’t mean he couldn’t lean on the charity for help. He said: “I went in on a day where I had absolutely nothing. They just hooked me up, and they’ve been there for me from day one.
“When the nurse at Castle Hill reached out to me on Facebook, she did it in her own time. She didn’t have to do that. She saw I was struggling and said we can help you and support you. Even when I didn’t think I was entitled to that help. They don’t get enough praise or awareness. Getting to Everest base camp and having something with their name on it and being able to show what they’ve done for me, it’s an honour and a privilege. It’s to show other brain tumour survivors that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and life doesn’t stop after surgery like I thought it did for a while. It shows you are limitless.”
The effects of the tumour and treatment left Matt with a brain injury, Type 1 diabetes, and challenges with scoliosis and seizures. He also suffered periods of poor mental health, and has spoken openly in the past about his suicidal thoughts following his surgeries. He wants to raise awareness on the effects of non-cancerous brain tumours and the help that’s on offer for people who experience stories like his. He said: “It was a non-cancerous brain tumour and now I’ve got a brain injury as a result of the tumour and the treatment.
“The brain tumour left its mark, so I needed an awake brain surgery and that left a little hole in my brain. Radiotherapy has left me with radiation scarring and dead brain cells. The end result of the damage it did to my immune system was that it triggered Type 1 diabetes. My brain has taken an absolute battering. I think that’s why I’ve been obsessed with these stupidly dangerous challenges: impulsivity and the mountains. This one is going to be my biggest one.”
Previously, Matt has climbed Kilimanjaro and penned a book about his experience, titled Kilimanjaro: Lessons in Failure, Strength and Perseverance. His first book deals with the struggles of living with a brain tumour, and the treatment that follows. In July of this year, he will tackle his 13th Tough Mudder challenge, while dressed as a gorilla. And as if that weren’t enough, for every £20 he raises in his challenges, he has decided to take a pie to the face. Currently an event medic, he plans to study at the University Of Hull to become a paramedic.
The 36-year-old said: “Just before I got my diagnosis, I was going to apply to go down the paramedic road. Then after my diagnosis, I thought people like me who’ve had brain surgery can’t become a paramedic. After my counselling course I realised there’s more I can do, I thought why can’t I try the access course to get to uni. I got accepted for Paramedic Science at Hull Uni and it just showed I was making excuses. There is no excuse, you’ve got to at least try.”
Donate to his Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/page/matt-carpenter-22 or find Matt on TikTok and Instagram as “The Tumour Killer”.
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