Andrew Le Page attends the Superdry Merchant Store launch event on February. Photo / Getty Images
Andrew Le Page attends the Superdry Merchant Store launch event on February. Photo / Getty Images
Love Island alum Andrew Le Page has revealed how he was diagnosed with a brain tumour at just 20 years old.
The former finalist, 27, shared how he was devastatingly told by doctors he had a tumour after his older brother insisted he get a lump on his head checked out by a medical professional.
He spoke about his “really scary” experience while on his girlfriend Tasha Ghouri’s podcast Superpowers with Tasha, in which the reality star, 23, interviews empowering figures.
He revealed that he wasn’t going to get it checked, believing it was just part of his skull, however his brother Adam urged him to be vigilant and called the doctor on his behalf.
He said: “So I had like a lump on my head for like a few years, and my brother felt it and was like “Andrew, what is that?” and I was like ‘I don’t know, I’ve had it for a while’.
“Then and there, he called up the doctor and got me an appointment and I had an MRI, then went back to the doctors again, and they told me I had this brain tumour.”
Andrew revealed that the incident brought him to tears, saying: “I went back into my car, started crying, and literally went back to work that afternoon.
“They all knew I’d gone to the doctor’s for it, and they were like ‘how’d it go?’ and I couldn’t speak.
“Eventually one of my colleagues went to my boss and said ‘I think Andrew needs to go home and process this’.”
He went on to say that within a few weeks, he had flown to London from Guernsey - where he was living at the time - to have the lump removed.
He added: “It was scary, really scary. Like this is major, having a brain tumour at 20. Within two weeks, I flew to London and had it removed, but at the time it was so scary, like what could have been.
Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page attend the Metro Bank Women’s Ashes Vitality IT20 match. Photo / Getty Images
“Luckily my brother called the doctor ‘cause I would have left it. I thought it was part of my skull, and it was big as well. At the time it was so scary and I was crying and I couldn’t speak to my colleagues, it was like that.
“So I got that removed, within a month of it all happening. Luckily, I’m all good.”
Le Page, who met his current beau Ghouri on last year’s season of Love Island, confessed that he never thought he’d be diagnosed with a tumour, dubbing the experience as a “close call”.
“I was just really terrified, I was so scared and I didn’t know how to tell anyone. I told my mum and dad straight away obviously and my brother,” he went on.
“I was crying and I was so upset like ‘what the hell, I can’t believe this has now happened at such a young age.’ I thought it would be something I’d never go through.
“When you’re young, you always think ‘I’m invincible, I’ll live forever and I’ll be able to run forever and do this forever.’ But then at 20, I thought this is ridiculous. ‘Why me’, you always think, ‘why me?’”
Le Page says the health scare prompted him to live life to the fullest and inspired the reality star to pursue a career in personal training and make the big move overseas.
“From then, I was like I’ve just got to live my life. After the surgery and it was fine, I thought that was a close call and I’ve got to enjoy my life as much as I can now,” he said
“It was tough while I was doing it, but it all worked out for the best.”
