A BRAVE Kilwinning woman diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour is defying the odds – a year after she was given just months to live.

Linda Unwin, 26, was left devastated last February when she was diagnosed with High Grade Glioma Glioblastoma – an aggressive, incurable brain tumour and told she had between eight and 13 months to live.

But her mum Catherine McKnight has told the Times that, more than a year on her determined daughter has amazed doctors after vowing to fight for her life.

Less than four months ago doctors sent palliative care medics to the family’s Blacklands home and told them to prepare for the worst as there was nothing more that could be done.

But graphic designer Linda had other ideas and managed to get herself on a drug trial which can extend her life for 26 months or more.

The trial, which is run by the private Care Oncology Clinic in London sees patients taking four old drugs; a statin, a diabetes pill, an antibiotic tablet and a dewormer, and costs just £400 a year.

Catherine, 48, said: “A few months ago palliative care were in because things were so bad and had us on alert, but Linda being Linda was like ‘that’s not happening’. She can be very stubborn.

“So we managed to get her on the drug trial and we have had two scans and the first showed the tumour was stable but the second was stable with good shrinkage. She has had a third and we will get the results this week so we are full of hope that it will be more positive news.”

Catherine says Linda, who has been in a wheelchair since undergoing aggressive cancer treatment, has been improving so much she has even managed to walk again.

She said: “She is getting stronger every day. She is still in her chair but she has managed to walk when it’s a short distance, which is amazing.

However, Catherine says Linda, her dad Tom and brother Tom, know that ultimately, the prognosis for their spirited daughter, is devastating.

She said: “The last five months she has slowly but surely been improving. We still know what we are dealing with but compared to what she was, she is doing really well. The scans have changed but the prognosis is still the same. It’s one of these diseases that never goes away. It’s just a matter of whether we can keep her stable.

“But when she was first diagnosed, they said she wouldn’t be here by now so she is proving them wrong every day.”