A young mum from Watford who lost her fiancé to a brain tumour has abseiled down the tallest structure in Portsmouth raise money for charity in his memory.

Emma Barclay, 24, undertook the challenge of lowering herself a terrifying 100m from the Spinnaker Tower earlier this month to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.

The dental nurse decided to complete the challenge in memory of her fiancé Adam, who was just 27 years old when he lost his life to the cancer four months ago - on New Year’s Day.

Mrs Barclay, who lives in Trident Road, said: “Adam’s symptoms were repeatedly dismissed as nothing serious. As the brain tumour grew, he had a series of massive seizures.

“He went into surgery but never woke up. We had been planning our wedding but now I’m alone and my children are left without their daddy.

“Our lives have been destroyed and it is all so unnecessary – had he been diagnosed earlier he would still be with us now.”

Adam worked as an assistant manager at Penning’s in Greenhill Crescent. The couple have two children, Lola, 4, and Parker, 1.

Mrs Barclay, who raised £1,000 with the abseil, marked the day she was due to get married by changing her surname.

She added: “I am hoping to complete many charity events in order to raise money for this charity which means so much to me and my family.

“Until I met Adam I never believed that everyone had a soul mate. We were like the male and female versions of the same person.

“Life was so perfect that I used to wonder if something would go wrong and I would be punished for having everything I ever wanted.

"Five months after Parker was born in April 2015, Adam started having episodes where he would just freeze and stare straight ahead for 20 seconds or so.

“Although we didn’t know it at the time, he was suffering from absence seizures which were a symptom of the silent killer that was invading his brain.

“Our GP said he was suffering from panic attacks and that he needed to de-stress.

“A cardiology appointment found nothing wrong, several more GP appointments resulted in the diagnosis of common cold. 

"At one time Adam’s blurred vision and sickness were put down to labrynthitis and he was prescribed anti-biotics and anti-sickness medication.

“As we approached Christmas, our first together as a family of four, Adam was getting worse.

"At one stage Adam, who hadn’t had a sick day in eight years, even said to me he felt as if he was going to die.

"We got through Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On December 27 Adam had extreme stabbing pains in his head and we took him to hospital where a CT scan immediately identified a large tumour in Adam’s brain.

“Adam had a series of terrible seizures and was taken into surgery for an emergency procedure. It was a high-grade glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and aggressive form of this dreadful disease.

“Just a week before Lola’s fourth birthday she said goodbye to her daddy for the last time.

“Adam never regained consciousness and he passed away on New Year’s Day. His last words to me were ‘love you too’.

“The consultant told me that Adam would be alive today if he had been diagnosed earlier.

"I want people with families to know about this, perhaps they can save the life of a loved one from being taken unnecessarily as I feel Adam has been snatched away from us.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/Emma-Jolly3.