THE father of a student diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour has been left "humbled" after a fundraiser set up by friends has so far seen over £23,000 donated.

Jacob Whitehead, 22, was suffering with severe headaches for several days in March before symptoms worsened to leave him in a state of semi-consciousness.

When his university housemate called for an ambulance, he was rushed into hospital and diagnosed with glioblastoma multiform.

GBM is an incurable grade four cancer and as such is very aggressive, with a significant risk of spreading to other parts of the brain.

Jacob's father, Steve, who lives in Edgworth, told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I’ve been humbled by the love and support shown by neighbours and the good people of Edgworth, who have helped raise awareness of my son's fundraiser, provided donations and given incredible words of encouragement.

"Jacob is inspirational. He has no time for negativity, he keeps positive and is focussed on achieving his goals to make the most out of his time.

"Finishing his degree and travelling the world are his key goals, particularly seeing his childhood friend who emigrated to New Zealand six years ago.

"All this is made increasingly possible now through this fantastic funding initiative, made possible by his good friends. I’m so proud of them all.”

Knowing of Jacob's ambition to travel, his friends set up a GoFundMe page titled 'Jacob's Grand Tour' – which is so far just £2,000 short of its £25,000 target – and will see Jacob visit some of his dream destinations.

Jacob, originally from Altrincham who attends Sheffield Hallam, told the Lancashire Telegraph about his experience: "Back in March, I had a headache that progressively started to feel like a migraine and a few days later I was in bed semi-conscious.

"I was taken into hospital and the day after I was told that I'd got a tumour on my brain and I had surgery the day after that.

"I've had one week of radiotherapy and chemotherapy up to now, with another five weeks left to complete."

On the GoFundMe page, organiser Luke Walsh wrote: "As his friends we were all searching for some way in which we could lend a hand to Jacob through this particularly rough patch and struggling to think how we could make this a less tough time and ensure that he is able to make some amazing memories.

"He had expressed his wishes to travel to places such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan (to name a few) and we wanted to give our mate something to look forward to, such as this trip of a lifetime which will help shine a light at the end of the tunnel following his treatment."

Jacob spoke of how he has been "lost for words" by the love and support shown to him by people up and down the country – particularly the vast number of donors, most of whom he has never met.

To donate, visit GoFundMe and search for Luke Walsh's appeal, 'Jacob's Grand Tour'.