Guest Blog: Cliodhna McCorley Talks Fundraising Gala A NIGHT FOR LIFE

No stage production will ever match the real-life drama I've been through.

As I crossed the finish line, I collapsed with tears into the arms of my best friend, Andrea. I'd done it. Half-marathon complete. A year earlier, this was an impossible dream.

Now, two years since my life changed - and was threatened - I've organised A Night For Life Ball, determined to raise funds for the hospital that saved my life.

"You have a large brain tumour," said the doctor. Did he say brain tumour? I couldn't believe it. Surely this doesn't happen to 24-year-olds.

On 29 May 2015, the specialist at UCLH Euston showed me the scan. There it was. A white golf ball-sized tumour growing on my brainstem. That is what was causing the excruciating fits in my face.

I'd thought it must be my wisdom teeth. The dentist told me to visit my GP as the symptoms were indicative of a chronic condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia (sudden, severe fits of facial pain likened to being electrocuted in the jaw, teeth and gums).

The seizures were becoming more regular, more intense and more painful. What was happening to me? I was terrified. I was told I needed an MRI scan immediately.

That night, I was due to get a flight to visit friends in Glasgow, where I trained as an actress at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I had the scan. Then afterwards, frightened and alone, I went to the airport.

The medication I'd been given was beginning to work and the fits seemed to have stopped. I was standing in the boarding queue at Luton Airport when the neurologist called. She told me not to get on the plane and to come to the hospital immediately. That's when it hit me something was seriously wrong. I trembled with fear as I was escorted out of the departure lounge.

Next stop was the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. I needed brain surgery, and fast.

The eight-hour operation went well and most of the 3.6cm Acoustic Neuroma had been removed. My biggest fears, aside from not waking up, were permanent facial palsy and losing my hearing.

Thankfully my facial nerve had survived, undamaged. However, the Acoustic Neuroma was attached to my hearing and balance nerves, and they had been completely destroyed. This meant single-sided deafness, an inability to stand up and extreme nausea that prevented me from keeping any meals down. I lost a stone that week.

Life had changed dramatically overnight and I wasn't coping well.

"I can't do it! Please! I need to sit down," I cried a week later, dizzy with tears of panic, and fell to the floor of the hospital.

I had developed a condition called Panic Disorder, but through the help of a psychologist and psychiatrist I was able to deal with the trauma of what was happening.

Just three weeks later, I left the hospital and good news finally arrived that September, when it was confirmed the tumour wasn't malignant and I was given permission to fly home with my parents to Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The day I left hospital I told my neurosurgeons that I was going to fundraise for them by running a half-marathon and using my events experience to organise a gala ball. They'd saved my life and I wanted to do something to give back.

When I'm not acting, charity fundraising is my passion. I now work in the development team of the National Youth Theatre, of which I've been a member for ten years, and I absolutely love it.

A Night For Life is on 8 June at London's Park Lane Hotel. Money raised on the night will enable the hospital to double the size of its brain tumour unit.

The support I've had has been overwhelming. ITV Sport's Ed Chamberlin will host this entertainment extravaganza organised by my agent and West End producer Jimmy Jewell.

Jon Culshaw, stars from the West End productions of Aladdin, Dreamgirls, The Book of Mormon, Wicked and The Lion King, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor are all donating their time and talents to perform.

One in six people in the UK suffers from a neurological disorder - that's more than the number of people living with cancer, coronary heart disease and diabetes combined.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. That is why I am passionate about raising vital funds so that this hospital can continue its pioneering work and save more lives.

One upside to the illness is that I've never been closer to my friends and family. It was their love and support that gave me strength and hope at a time when I had none. There's not a day goes when I don't think how lucky I am. I've honestly never been happier.

Visit www.anightforlife.com for information on tickets for the gala on 8 June or making a donation