A PORT Glasgow holidaymaker who feared she would die from a brain tumour has told how she found love with a Tunisian man almost 20 years her junior.

Kathleen Khalili, nee Campbell, 46, was hit with the bombshell diagnosis but had already booked up to go to Port El Kantaoui, near Sousse, with a friend in September 2013 and decided to take a holiday, little knowing that it would change her life forever.

Kathleen had been admitted to Inverclyde Royal Hospital as an emergency following a decade of medical problems, including blinding migraines and chronic tiredness.

Blood tests and a scan revealed that she had a tumour on her pituitary gland.

She said: “I thought I was going to die. It was the worst time of my life — I didn’t know if I would be able to go on holiday but decided to try and get on with my life.”

During her trip she got chatting to ticket seller Amir, 28, and threw caution to the wind by giving him her number.

She said: “I’ve met people on holiday before and you always get chatted up but I’ve never given out my number before.

“I was with one of my sister’s friends. Amir came up and was selling tickets for a snake show and he asked us what part of England we came from and I said ‘oh my God, we’re not English, we’re from Scotland’.

“We got chatting and he asked if I fancied going out for a drink and my friend just looked at me when I put my number into his phone. She said she couldn’t believe it.”

The pair became inseparable and saw each other every night, but Kathleen, a call centre worker, was brought back down to earth when she returned home to discover her tumour had grown.

She said: “I was told if it touched my optic nerve, I could go blind.”

Kathleen stayed in touch with Amir after returning home and went back to visit him three times before undergoing complex four-hour brain surgery at the Southern General Hospital  in Glasgow.

This involved drilling a hole in her skull to remove the tumour and replace it with muscle from her leg.

Kathleen said: “When I woke up, my first thought was that I couldn’t wait to see Amir.”

It took her two months to recuperate and her feelings for Amir were stronger than ever.

She said: “The night before the operation I told my sisters that if I didn’t come through it to tell Amir how much I loved him and if things had been different, I would have spent the rest of my life with him. 

“This wasn’t a holiday fling — this was it for me. If I hadn’t been diagnosed, I would have never have handed over my number. I just thought I had nothing to lose.”

Amir said: “What is meant to be is meant to be.”
Amir proposed in June 2014 and they got married the following October.

They tied the knot near Sousse but had to change their plans for a beach wedding because of terrorist attacks which claimed the lives of more than 30 British holidaymakers.

Kathleen said: “Around 20 people were booked to fly but they had to cancel, but two of my sisters managed to come and we held the wedding in a villa.”

The couple are now happily settled in a waterfront flat in Greenock and Amir has a job at a local restaurant.

Kathleen says the cultural differences and age gap are not a problem.

She said: “It’s never been an issue for us.”

Amir says people often think that because he is from Tunisia he wanted to come here for a passport or to make money.

He said: “Greenock is lovely but I would prefer to live in Tunisia, but I fell in love with Kathleen and she needs medication which she couldn’t get in Tunisia.”

Kathleen added: “My family is great and Amir’s older sister and mum are lovely. We communicate through sign language but their English is coming on and they fall about laughing when I try to speak in Arabic.”

They are now looking forward to the next chapter on their inspiring story and hope to start a family.

Kathleen suffered from blinding migraines, chronic tiredness and fertility problems for at least a decade.

She said: “I had no energy and a thirst I couldn’t quench, I was drinking 12 litres of water a day. I was so weak I had to pull myself up the stairs. I was tested for diabetes but that came back clear.”

It was only when she was referred to the endocrinology department of the IRH that medics discovered the brain tumour. 

Since her surgery the migraines have disappeared and Kathleen has a new lease of life but has to take three different drugs a day just to stay alive.

She and Amir have now started fundraising to make their dream of starting a family a reality.

Kathleen is too old to receive fertility treatment on the NHS and will need to find £10,000 to be treated privately.

Kathleen explained: “I have wanted children my whole life. It would mean the world to me.”

A family member is willing to donate her eggs to help the couple, who have raised £672 so far through a Justgiving page and are holding series of fundraising events, including a pyjama walk on Sunday at the Esplanade at 2pm.

If anyone wants to help Kathleen they can visit https://www.gofundme.com/making-baby-khalili or call her on 07957 509488.