11-Year-Old's Brain Tumor Discovered After Roller Coaster Ride: 'We Found It Before It Spread'

Mar. 15, 2025

Connie Campbell (left); A stock image of a roller coaster (right).Photo:Brain Tumour Research / SWNS; Thomas Faull/Alamy Live News

Brain Tumour Research / SWNS; Thomas Faull/Alamy Live News

A mom is alleging that a roller coaster “dislodged” a then-undetectedmalignant tumorin her daughter’s brain, giving the 11-year-old symptoms that eventually alerted the family to her condition — and ultimately, saved her life.Two days after Connie Campbell, now 13, went with her family to a U.K. amusement park in August 2022, she began having headaches and vomiting. Her mom, Tina Smith, said she believed that riding a coaster at the park revealed her daughter’s symptoms and helped resolve the situation.“It was two days later that she started being sick, which seems too much of a coincidence for the two things not to be related,” Smith, 54, told South West News Service viaThe Daily Mail.“I suspect the rides dislodged her tumor and, if that’s the case, I’m glad because I was told we found it at a good time, before it spread to her spine.”Connie Campbell.Brain Tumour Research / SWNSCampbell was diagnosed withmedulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor that starts in the back of the brain. As theCleveland Clinicnoted, it is a fast-growing type of cancer: “There’s a higher chance of survival if themedulloblastomahasn’t spread to other parts of your brain and spinal cord.“Although it was caught early, Campbell missed a year of school as she underwent aggressive treatment, which included brain surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Her mom is now raising money for Brain Tumor Research with a charitable run in the London marathon.Connie Campbell began showing symptoms of a brain tumor two days after riding a roller coaster.Brain Tumour Research / SWNSAs Smith wrote on thefundraising page, “The early words of her neurosurgeon always stuck with me - ‘this is a marathon, not a sprint’. Not an optional run; a survival run. She continues to thrive and amaze us, which has inspired me to take on a marathon of my own.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Thankfully, Campbell’s most recent MRI scan was clear, Smith wrote in a Dec. 19 post onthe Instagram pageshe started to share her daughter’s journey.Tina Smith with her daughter Connie Campbell.Brain Tumour Research / SWNSIn October, on thesecond anniversaryof Campbell’s brain surgery, she shared that pediatric cancer “is a unique special club one that doesn’t come with a membership fee nor one you want to be in but we find ourselves in a community of the most amazing kids with strongest of parents going to the end of the world to make their children better if they can - we do anything for them. ““Today I’m thankful that I could wave Connie off this morning to do what she loves doing – dancing,” Smith added.

A mom is alleging that a roller coaster “dislodged” a then-undetectedmalignant tumorin her daughter’s brain, giving the 11-year-old symptoms that eventually alerted the family to her condition — and ultimately, saved her life.

Two days after Connie Campbell, now 13, went with her family to a U.K. amusement park in August 2022, she began having headaches and vomiting. Her mom, Tina Smith, said she believed that riding a coaster at the park revealed her daughter’s symptoms and helped resolve the situation.

“It was two days later that she started being sick, which seems too much of a coincidence for the two things not to be related,” Smith, 54, told South West News Service viaThe Daily Mail.“I suspect the rides dislodged her tumor and, if that’s the case, I’m glad because I was told we found it at a good time, before it spread to her spine.”

Connie Campbell.Brain Tumour Research / SWNS

Brain Tumour Research / SWNS

Campbell was diagnosed withmedulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor that starts in the back of the brain. As theCleveland Clinicnoted, it is a fast-growing type of cancer: “There’s a higher chance of survival if themedulloblastomahasn’t spread to other parts of your brain and spinal cord.”

Although it was caught early, Campbell missed a year of school as she underwent aggressive treatment, which included brain surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Her mom is now raising money for Brain Tumor Research with a charitable run in the London marathon.

Connie Campbell began showing symptoms of a brain tumor two days after riding a roller coaster.Brain Tumour Research / SWNS

As Smith wrote on thefundraising page, “The early words of her neurosurgeon always stuck with me - ‘this is a marathon, not a sprint’. Not an optional run; a survival run. She continues to thrive and amaze us, which has inspired me to take on a marathon of my own.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Thankfully, Campbell’s most recent MRI scan was clear, Smith wrote in a Dec. 19 post onthe Instagram pageshe started to share her daughter’s journey.

Tina Smith with her daughter Connie Campbell.Brain Tumour Research / SWNS

In October, on thesecond anniversaryof Campbell’s brain surgery, she shared that pediatric cancer “is a unique special club one that doesn’t come with a membership fee nor one you want to be in but we find ourselves in a community of the most amazing kids with strongest of parents going to the end of the world to make their children better if they can - we do anything for them. "

“Today I’m thankful that I could wave Connie off this morning to do what she loves doing – dancing,” Smith added.

source: people.com