My husband was the healthiest he’d been at 46. Now he’s fighting a brain tumour that may have been growing for YEARS – and he only had two vague symptoms
Nobody panicked when Brad Collins complained of a slight headache. The 46-year-old Sunshine Coast electrician was fit, outdoorsy, and rarely sick.
He didn’t even have a regular GP. A bit of pain and a subtle visual disturbance was easy to brush off.
‘He had a slight headache about a year ago, but it was just nothing,’ his wife Frances Adcock told the Daily Mail.
‘He just sort of shrugged it off. I don’t think he even took a Panadol. He just kept working.’
Brad was the kind of man who always kept going. He ran his own business, worked long days, volunteered in his community and spent his spare time outdoors with his two young sons.
Then, on 14 January 2026, everything changed.
A couple of weeks before his diagnosis, Brad began experiencing what doctors later described as auras – a type of seizure that can affect vision and perception.
‘Brad’s vision just got really distorted. It was so unlike him. He doesn’t even have a doctor. That’s how healthy he is,’ Frances said.
Nobody panicked when Brad Collins complained of a slight headache. The 46-year-old Sunshine Coast electrician was fit, outdoorsy, and rarely sick
Brad was the kind of man who always kept going. He ran his own business, worked long days, volunteered in his community and spent his spare time outdoors with his two young sons
Frances did what many partners do in a moment of fear – she looked up his symptoms online.
‘I thought it must be a stroke. The symptoms felt more like that than anything else,’ she said.
Paramedics were called, and Brad was taken to the hospital – where initial testing revealed confusing results.
‘They noticed his heart rate wasn’t where it should be, but his blood pressure and blood tests were fine,’ she recalled.
Then came the words that turned their lives upside down.
‘Three days later they told us they’d found a mass in his brain,’ she said.
‘That was what was affecting his vision.’
Frances revealed the devastating way she received the news of Brad’s cancer.
A couple of weeks before his diagnosis, Brad began experiencing what doctors later described as auras – a type of seizure that can affect vision and perception
Brad had a brain tumour – later identified as a glioma measuring about 3cm, graded between stage 2 and stage 3
‘We were told in the same room as another patient,’ Frances said.
‘The other patient started crying for us. That’s when we knew we were dealing with something really serious.’
Brad had a brain tumour – later identified as a glioma measuring about 3cm, graded between stage 2 and stage 3.
‘It was just shock,’ she said.
‘You Google all the horrible things about brain cancer, and it’s not good. We just broke down crying.’
Then, they were sent home to wait. And wait.
‘We’ve been living this absolute nightmare.
‘We don’t know if it’s grown or stayed the same. We don’t know the prognosis. We’re just in survival mode.’
Doctors still don’t fully understand what causes gliomas. In Brad’s case, they cannot say how long it had been there
What is a glioma?
Gliomas are tumours that arise from glial cells, which support and protect nerve cells in the brain.
They can grow slowly or aggressively, and symptoms often appear gradually – headaches, visual changes, seizures or personality changes.
Doctors still don’t fully understand what causes them. In Brad’s case, they cannot say how long it had been there.
‘They said it could have been growing for years,’ Frances said.
‘They don’t know how he got it. Radiation, environmental exposure – he’s an electrician, so there’s a slight chance, but they just don’t know.’
Treatment depends on the tumour’s grade and location, and may involve surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy – or a combination.
‘At the moment, we’re just waiting,’ Frances said.
‘We’re not sure what treatment it will be.’
‘Brad would happily be a stay-at-home dad. He’s always out in nature with the boys, teaching them about the environment, recycling, how the world works,’ Frances said
From healthy provider to patient overnight
Three weeks after the mass was discovered, Brad underwent brain surgery in Brisbane.
‘He’d never really been in hospital before,’ Frances said.
‘He said it felt like being at the top of a roller coaster – that feeling in your stomach.’
For Frances, the waiting was unbearable.
‘It’s the sleepless nights, the not knowing,’ she said.
‘Trying to function as a normal family when there’s literally something in your head that needs to be removed because it’s killing you.’
A pillar of the community
Brad’s diagnosis has sent shockwaves through the Sunshine Coast.
An electrician for a decade, he was known as the bloke who never said no.
‘He’d install a smoke alarm or fix a light for free for an elderly person down the road. He was completely selfless.’
He volunteered during major floods in Bundaberg and Brisbane, helping with sandbagging, clean-ups, and restoring power.
‘That was his skill set. He just wanted to help.’
At home, he’s a devoted father to their two children, aged four and six.
‘He’s the most incredible dad,’ Frances said.
‘He’d happily be a stay-at-home dad. He’s always out in nature with the boys, teaching them about the environment, recycling, how the world works.’
Explaining the diagnosis to their children has been heartbreaking.
‘We tell them Daddy’s got a sore in his head. They miss him. They don’t want anything to happen to Daddy. They don’t understand.’
Brad had been the family’s breadwinner. Now, with work on hold, they’ve had to set up a GoFundMe just to keep up with the mortgage
The financial shock no one warns you about
As Brad recovers, the family is facing another reality – money.
‘We thought, like many Australians, that we were covered. We thought we had life insurance through super.’
They didn’t.
‘There was a box Brad didn’t tick,’ she said.
‘That one box meant there was no life insurance.’
Brad had been the family’s breadwinner. Now, with work on hold, they’ve had to set up a GoFundMe just to keep up with the mortgage.
‘No family should be in this position, especially with young children,’ Frances said.
‘Life is already stressful.’
Then there are the hidden costs.
‘I paid $60 today just for hospital parking. It’s fuel, driving back and forth, arranging care for the kids, taking time off work.’
Even food has become a financial strain.
‘Eating well is so important when you’re trying to get better,’ she said.
‘But even that is expensive.’
Alternative and supportive therapies – often not covered by insurance – add to the burden.
‘It all adds up and no one prepares you for that.’
For now, the family is waiting – trusting doctors, holding each other, and taking life one day at a time
‘Please check you’re insured’
For Frances, one message matters above all others.
‘We insure our cars. We insure our homes. But we forget to insure ourselves – and we’re the most important thing in our family’s life.’
She urges Australians to check their super and insurance policies now, not later.
‘If you don’t understand life insurance, ask someone who does,’ she said.
‘Please check. You just don’t know when you might need it.’
Her other plea is just as urgent.
‘If you’ve got symptoms – even small ones – get them checked. Be your own health advocate,’ she said.
‘In the worst of times, you see the best in people’
If there has been one source of light, it has been the community Brad spent years helping.
‘The support has been unbelievable. In the worst of times, you see the best in people.’
Friends, neighbours and even her former primary school teacher have donated to the GoFundMe.
‘It restores my faith in humanity. It’s awful that something like this has to happen to bring people together.’
For now, the family is waiting – trusting doctors, holding each other, and taking life one day at a time.
‘We’re at the helm of the healthcare system,’ Frances said.
‘And we’re just hoping for the best possible outcome.’
