Demi Leigh Wilson was encouraged to go to the doctors when she spoke to her customers about her pain
17:32, 04 Jan 2025Updated 17:34, 04 Jan 2025
Demi Leigh Wilson, 24(Image: Supplied)
A 24-year-old who was encouraged to go to the doctors by her customers after suffering agonising period pain was given a shocking totally unrelated diagnosis – through the NHS app. Demi Leigh Wilson, who runs a Liverpool-based children’s entertainment business, Happily Ever After Princess, said for a lot of her life she had suffered from severe period pains.
However, in 2023, when the pain intensified she was encouraged to go to the doctors by her customers and by doing so was given the devastating news in October 2024 she had a brain tumour.
Demi told the Liverpool ECHO: “It did start off with my periods and it was getting to a point where I was very ill in bed. It felt like a wall when I was dragging myself to get up and go to do a job and it has taken over my life.
“I said to one of my customers once, ‘listen, I’m not well, I really need to dose myself up on painkillers, can I come half an hour later?’ and they said, that doesn’t sound normal, maybe go and get that checked. Others said the same thing. So I did take myself to the doctors at the beginning of the year and since then it’s just been scan after scan, blood after blood test.”
Demi was told her bloods were abnormal and was sent to the endocrinology department in a hospital which studies hormones. In October 2024 after having an MRI scan, she was told she had a brain tumour.
Demi said: “I got sent for bloods which is standard procedure. My hormone levels kept coming back abnormal and they kept sending me back as they thought it was probably just a one-off but they kept coming back abnormal.
“They sent me back to endocrinology. At first, there were no issues but the consultant said, we’ll send you for the MRI. I went on my own, thinking I’d be okay. When I found out it was a brain tumour, I never got a call. I actually found out on the NHS app. I never thought in a million years it would be a brain tumour.
“It did shock me. I’ve got to start treatment for it which is coming up this month. I don’t know what my life’s going to look like to be honest. I don’t have a clue.”
Despite her upcoming treatment Demi is hopeful to continue with her business which supplies entertainment for children’s parties across the city, something she had the idea for when she was aged just 14.
She added: “It started when I was 14. We went to a Halloween party and it was a family friend who was doing the entertainment. I’ve always been a performer, I’ve always sang, always danced. This family friend turned round and said, she’d be really good at doing things like a party princess. But I was getting bullied at the time, so I never really believed in it. I was just like, ‘oh no, I couldn’t do that’.
“It was when I was like 16, while I was in college, I started working for other people, doing entertainment. I did get myself into there, but as I turned 18, it didn’t really work out for another company.
“My mum and dad said, ‘you should go and do this, you’re too good to throw it away’. They helped me get my first little dress, and then it started from there really.”
Demi insists she will keep Happily Ever After Princess going despite the turbulent time she is going through and thanks her customers for ‘saving her life’.
She is also now on a waiting list to look into whether she has endometriosis after initially going to the doctors for her period pain. She said: “My customers have supported me through it all I’ve got relationships with them like I have with my family, and they both gave me the push to go and get checked.
“They said you need to go to the doctors. If it wasn’t for my customers, then I probably would have never known, being honest. They’ve saved my life, pretty much.”
On looking forward to the future for her business she added: “It’s just been about the experiences I can bring to kids. There are families who are sitting on the brink of poverty and there’s children who are dealing with so many different types of illnesses. When you’ve got the ability to create a nice memory, that they’ll grow up remembering, it just makes it worth doing.
“I am proud because every penny I’ve made, it doesn’t go to me, it goes back to the business. It’s never really been about making money like I’ve said, it’s just always been about what can I do to make us better, to make things better for the kids, to make it more magical.
“This is something that I can sit there and put my stamp on and say, I’ve done a lot for families who need me and I’m proud of that, and that’s one thing that will keep me going. You could throw anything at me, but as long as I’ve got that, I’m okay.
“Hopefully if my treatment goes well, I can do do more charity events. We want to do events to raise a lot of money, but still make it all inclusive for the children.” You can find out more about Happily Ever After Princesses via its Facebook or Instagram pages.