FEATURE | Umar joins Bears’ training session as teen continues cancer recovery

Warwickshire invited a Birmingham teenager to join Bears players at an Edgbaston training session to help his return to cricket following a brain tumour diagnosis. Umar Qureshi spent time with Olly Hannon-Dalby, Liam Norwell and Henry Brookes at the Club’s Indoor Centre before enjoying a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium. The 15-year-old, from Smethwick, had signed to play for a local club at the start of the year but his plans were put on hold after he was diagnosed with Germinoma – a rare brain tumour which had grown behind the pituitary gland connected to the brain. The tumour had begun to affect Umar’s eyesight and, as the pituitary gland sends signals to the brain to release hormones, it was also stunting his growth.  He underwent 12-weeks of intensive chemotherapy at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, plus five weeks of proton therapy in Manchester. Thankfully the treatment shrunk the tumour and he’s now cancer free. Umar is now focusing on his GCSE’s and getting back to playing cricket for his school and club teams.