It wasn’t just migraines after all. Both Hyne and Dr. Coleman were shocked that it turned out she had a massive hemangioblastoma, a type of brain tumor.

The tune was a time-honored, and fitting, classic from “The Wizard of Oz”: the Scarecrow’s seminal hit, “If I Only Had a Brain.” Standing bedside, Burnell’s wife, Anne, sang along.

April said: 'When they said I had a brain tumour, my first thought was that I was going to die. 'It was a numbing moment. I was a single mum, and my daughter Abby was still a teenager.

That’s when doctors scanned her brain — and April was given the devastating news: She had a brain tumor. And while it wasn’t cancerous, it was so deep in her brain that it couldn’t be removed.

Why does the brain of some people stay sharp into their 80s and beyond? An expert explains what 25 years of exploring the brain tissue of “SuperAgers” has discovered.