One night in March 2012, Amelia Powers went to bed alone, sobbing after an argument with her then boyfriend. Waking with what felt like a migraine coming on, she discovered, to her distress, that she had vomited in her sleep. The sickness and headache persisted, but she attributed them to the migraine. A few days later, she had to fly to Milan on business, still feeling dreadful. When she woke up in an emergency room, she realised it was far more serious. She travelled home to face the worst possible prognosis — she had a grade three anaplastic astrocytoma, the most dangerous form of brain cancer. Even with treatment, she was given 18 months to live.

And yet here we are today, 18 months later,