text: When Clare Hines found out she was pregnant she was faced with an agonising choice – cancel an operation to remove the tumour growing on her brain or terminate her unborn baby. Ms Hines, then 27, from Darra in Brisbane, had suffered epileptic seizures for 10 years but had recently noticed that her balance was gone and she was struggling to hear out of her right ear. After a number of tests doctors discovered she had a benign tumour that had wrapped itself around her acoustic, facial and balance nerve – and told her she had have it surgically removed or she risked the tumour turning malignant. Scroll down for video . Clare Hines, who lives in Brisbane, was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering epileptic seizures . One week before brain surgery she found out she was pregnant. She went against doctors' warnings to keep the baby and give birth to her son Noah . But in February 2012, one week before she was due to go into surgery, she took a pregnancy test that turned out positive. 'I went to doctor booked and told her I've been the pill for 10 years - this wasn't planned,' Ms Hines told Daily Mail Australia. 'She asked me 'What do you want to do, do you want to carry on with pregnancy or have your surgery?' 'I felt sick - how can you ask somebody that?' Doctors warned Ms Hines that the baby would not survive being under general anaesthetic for 12 hours if she had the operation. They also warned her that if she kept the baby, her pregnancy hormones would likely cause the tumour to grow significantly. Her baby was also at a higher risk of being born with birth defects, but she decided to push ahead with the pregnancy. Seven weeks after Noah was born, Ms Hines and their newborn flew back to her home of Manchester in the UK to finally undergo surgery to remove her brain tumour, which had almost doubled in size . Ms Hines is pictured seeing Noah for the first time in three weeks, after her brain surgery . 'I'm a strong believer in fate – I thought this is meant to happen and maybe this baby is going to be my strength to get me through,' she said. 'All my friends were really shocked - friends said 'How could you be so stupid?' 'But I thought you know what, it's nothing to do with you it's my choice.' Ms Hines' pregnancy was difficult and she suffered from exhaustion, stress and anxiety – but the real test came when she went into labour. 'It was the worst labour ever, I had three seizures in the middle,' she said. 'When you seizure all your muscles contract and they could basically squash the baby.' Doctors made the decision to perform an emergency caesarean and Ms Hines gave birth to her son Noah on October 16, 2012. 'He wasn't breathing when he was born he had to be resuscitated, that was the shock of the birth,' she said. 'At first we didn't hear any cries. Doctors had to perform an emergency caesarean after Ms Hines suffered three seizures during labour . Ms Hines said she and her husband Marcus were very worried about Noah, but tests showed he was healthy . 'But then he opened his mouth and his vocal cords started working. He only cried for like 30 seconds and he didn't cry for five days afterwards.' Ms Hines said she and her husband Marcus Hines were very worried about Noah, but tests showed he was healthy. 'He had 10 toes, 10 fingers, his hearing and eyesight were good - everything seemed to be fine,' she said. Seven weeks after Noah was born, Mr and Ms Hines and their newborn flew back to her home of Manchester in the UK to finally undergo surgery to remove her brain tumour, which had almost doubled in size. 'I wanted to go back to the UK to have the surgery done there – I thought that if something happens to me I don't want to die here I want to be around family,' she said. 'My husband took me to hospital and I just remember feeling nauseous, dizzy and just really, really frightened.' After returning to Australia following her surgery, Ms Hines suffered another accident at the gym . In January 2103, after a 10 and a half hour operation, she woke up in terrible pain and had completely lost hearing in her right ear. She also contracted bacterial meningitis forcing her to stay in hospital for four weeks without seeing Noah. But Ms Hines said the moment they were reunited made it all worth it. 'I wasn't supposed to hold him but I just wanted to see him,' she said. 'As soon as I did the pain just went away. 'I thought "This is why he happened. He happened to make me better." The young family returned to Australia and Ms Hines returned to work. B . But in an effort to get healthy again she went to the gym, where she had another seizure while running on a treadmill causing massive injuries to her face. She had to undergo more surgery to have a metal plate put in her cheek and eye socket. Ms Hines is now 30 and has been seizure-free for two years. She has started a new job as an account manager at a marketing company but she struggles to communicate with her colleagues without hearing in her right ear . Ms Hines and husband Marcus (pictured with Noah) arein tens of thousands of dollars' worth of debt due to the cost of flying to the UK for her operation, her medication and the multiple specialists she sees regularly . Ms Hines is now 30 and has been seizure-free for two years. She has started a new job as an account manager at a marketing company but she struggles to communicate with her colleagues without hearing in her right ear. Ms Hines - who is in tens of thousands of dollars' worth of debt due to the cost of flying to the UK for her operation, her medication and the multiple specialists she needs to see regularly - is trying to raise money to buy a hearing aid. 'I need a hearing aid to help me – I can't hear Noah in the night when I lay on my side,' she said. 'I can't drive because can't hear traffic coming on the right side, I can't get a bike because can't hear cars.' She has started a MyCause page in the hope of raising funds – with any extra money she raises to be donated to the Brain Foundation, Epilepsy Action Australia and the Queensland Acoustic Neuroma Association. The family is trying to raise money so Ms Hines can buy  a hearing aid . Her son Noah is now two-and-a-half years old and Ms Hines says she doesn't regret the decisions she made . Her son Noah is now two-and-a-half years old and although he is seeing a speech therapist he is a healthy toddler. 'He's not talking, and we think he's getting frustrated because he can't explain what he wants,' Ms Hines said. 'We do worry about it because of the pregnancy and labour, you don't know if it caused long-term effects. 'He has terrible mood swings but we just don't know if that's a two-year-old being a two-year-old.' But Ms Hines says she doesn't regret the decisions she made. 'I would not change having my son. I wouldn't change coming to Australia, wouldn't change going back to UK for me operation,' she said. 'I'm in a lot of debt and it's caused a lot of stress but your health is more important than anything.' Ms Hines has started a MyCause page to raise money for a hearing aid and for charity .
target: Clare Hines, who lives in Brisbane, was diagnosed with a brain tumour .
  She found out she was pregnant a week before scheduled surgery .
  The 27-year-old had to decide to keep the baby or remove the tumour .
  Ms Hines went against warnings from doctors to give birth to son Noah .
  She has since had many operations but has lost hearing in her right ear .
  Ms Hines, originally from the UK, is trying to raise money for a hearing aid .