A 17-year-old student initially attributed her severe headaches to dehydration during a heatwave, only to discover they were a symptom of a ruptured brain tumor. Danielle Andersen experienced five days of intense pain before seeking medical attention at an A&E department in July 2025.
Doctors noted an abnormality in her eye tracking, prompting a CT scan that revealed a slow-growing brain tumor, identified as a dermoid cyst. Although benign, the tumor had ruptured. Andersen subsequently underwent a craniotomy to remove it, a procedure that led to a stroke during the surgery when three blood vessels were inadvertently severed.
Danielle Andersen spent nearly two months in the hospital undergoing physiotherapy. Six months post-surgery, she has regained significant mobility and can now jump and dance again. "I thought it must be dehydration from the heatwave, and everyone else told me that," Andersen recounted. "But no matter how much water I drank, the headache wouldn’t go away. I was going to the bathroom constantly because I was drinking and drinking. I was in pure agony."
Despite some initial disbelief from others about the severity of her pain, Andersen's intuition that it was more than a simple dehydration headache proved correct. Her father, Justin, took her to the Princess Royal University Hospital, where the initial diagnosis was a migraine before the CT scan identified the dermoid cyst, believed to have been present since birth.
Before her surgery, Andersen had secured a place at a London performing arts college. She chose to delay the operation to complete her first term. Referred to King's College Hospital, the family was informed that the surgery had a 100-to-one chance of complications. Andersen stated her desire to start college without being defined by her condition. She attended classes and was still dancing the week before her December 15, 2025 admission.
Upon waking from the craniotomy, surgeons observed weakness in her left arm, initially described as temporary. However, four days later, Andersen experienced complete paralysis on the left side of her body, including her eye, head, arm, and leg. An MRI scan confirmed a stroke had occurred during the operation due to severed blood vessels, which happened three days before Christmas. The family, who had expected her to be home by December 22, 2025, did not leave the hospital until February 19, 2026.
Doctors expressed uncertainty about whether Andersen would ever dance again or fully regain use of her left hand. Her father emphasized the family's determination not to let her dreams be derailed. Andersen's recovery involved neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rebuild neural pathways. Early rehabilitation involved family members and physiotherapists physically moving her limbs repeatedly throughout the day.
"The physios said Danielle is only getting through this so quickly because her whole family is on board," Justin said. Six months later, Andersen has resumed running, jumping, and dancing. She took a leave of absence from her studies and plans to restart in September. Her physiotherapy sessions are now focused on dance training. The family is fundraising for intensive private neurological physiotherapy, as standard NHS rehabilitation is insufficient for the specialized needs of a dancer requiring extensive daily therapy.
A spokesperson for King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged the complexity of skull base neurosurgery, which carries inherent risks that are explained to patients during the pre-operative consent process. The trust expressed a desire to meet with the family to discuss their concerns further.