A young mother is eagerly planning her wedding after surviving a brain tumour the size of a tennis ball found after a routine eye operation.

Claire Broome started suffering with migraines after the birth of her son, Tyler James, three.

Doctors put them down to the trauma of giving birth. The 25-year-old was prescribed tablets, but nothing worked.

Then during an eye check-up an optometrist discovered a problem with Miss Broome’s optic nerve.

Miss Broome, of Festival Avenue, Shipley, said: “She said I had a swollen optic nerve and needed to get to hospital and get there as soon as possible to get it checked out. She said I needed to go that afternoon, but I couldn’t.” Instead Miss Broome went the Bradford Royal Infirmary the next morning and was sent to Leeds General Infirmary the next day after a scan.

Doctors discovered a brain tumour and operated the next day.

“The night I’d been to the optician I Googled what it meant to have a swollen nerve and a couple of things came up about brain tumours, but I thought, ‘not me,’” Miss Broome said.

The mother said the diagnosis did not sink in until she came round from the 14-hour operation to remove the tumour.

“They had told my parents it would be eight hours, but it was 14 hours because it was quite a delicate operation as it was so close to my brain stem. There’s still a little bit in there. I’ve spoken to my parents since and they said time just went really, really slowly.”

If she had gone another week without treatment, she may not have survived.

Optometrist Paramjit Birdi, from Specsavers, in Shipley, said: “Normally the optic nerve lies flat, but Claire’s was very raised and swollen. Alarm bells started to ring because a swollen optic nerve is a sign of intra-cranial hypertension, or pressure in the brain.”

Although the tumour was discovered in November 2011, Miss Broome is still having regular MRI scans.

A physiotherapist has been helping her as the operation has caused problems with her balance.

She is planning to marry next year.