A Bucks dad was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour after experiencing migraines following a family holiday.

Elliot Godfrey, 42, began experiencing migraines on his return from a family holiday in Mexico this March, and his head began feeling "compressed."

Friends picked up that something wasn't right during his son, Aein's, first birthday party, soon after returning to the UK.

The next day, the pressure in Elliot's head increased, and he was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital. 

A CT scan showed abnormalities, and Elliot was blue-lighted to John Radcliffe Hospital.

There, on April 16, Elliot was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma – a fast-growing brain cancer which is notoriously resistant and, left unchecked, always grows back. 

Elliot, an ex-professional golfer who now owns a golf simulation business, from Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, said: "They gave me a 20% chance that I could die from surgery.

"Sitting there with my family, that was obviously pretty devastating and quite scary.

"I googled it, and the first thing I saw was a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator. 

"They literally called it the terminator cancer - the survival rates and the reality of living with this hit really hard."

Elliot said he had put the headaches down to the stress and reduced sleep from being a new dad. 

Two days after his diagnosis, Elliot had brain surgery and 95% of the tumour was removed. 

Since then, his headaches have ceased. 

He said: "When I got home, my son Aein's one-year-old birthday balloon was still there. 

"I sat there, and I thought 'will I get to see two, will I get to see four?' 

"I just want to be here for as long as possible for him.

"One of the hardest things is you're processing it yourself and also seeing all the people that you love going through trauma.

"You kind of feel guilty, like you've let everybody down.

"I’m incredibly lucky to have my network around me. I didn’t think I could love my wife Jess anymore but how much she’s been there for me every single day is overwhelming.

"She was already the love of my life, but she’s gone up a tier or two."

Now, Elliot is on a six-week course of combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

After noticing hair loss in the shower four weeks in, Elliot decided to brave the shave along with five friends and his brother in an act of solidarity. 

He said: "I’m doing absolutely everything I can to increase my chances of long-term survival. 

"Because of my professional sports person attitude, I’ve turned this into my life. 

"I’ve gone onto a diet; I’m out running; I’m training. 

"We have to keep our foot on the gas - I’m trying to take myself as far into the expected survival as I can because I can’t bear to think that’s how long I’ve got.

"Doctors say if they didn’t have my notes, they wouldn’t believe I had a glioblastoma. 

"I feel like for someone with a glioblastoma, grade four, unmethylated, wild type, I’m doing a pretty good job - just trying to keep positive energy and kill it with kindness."

As he battles chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Elliot is also tirelessly researching the next steps. 

Elliot calls NHS care "amazing", but says it only slows down the growth - so he is looking abroad. 

Having raised over £141,000 in donations already, Elliot hopes to visit Germany to try the latest treatments. 

One, Tumour Treating Fields, uses a battery-powered cap worn 18-hours a day to disrupt cancer cell division, and another, Dendritic Cell Vaccine Therapy, retrains the immune system to attack cancer cells.

Both of these treatment options have shown promise in clinical trials but are yet to be approved for routine use by the NHS. 

Elliot sees these breakthroughs as "glimmers of light" and says he is so thankful for donations.

He said: "The GoFundMe page was something that was quite hard to do because I hate asking for help, but it has restored my faith in humanity.

"You read about all the bad things that happen in the world, but people are kind and people do want to help each other."

Elliot’s fundraiser is found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-elliot-fight-brain-cancer