AN Ayr man went from queuing up at a waterpark to being diagnosed with a brain tumour after taking a seizure on holiday.

Barry Reid was on a family holiday in Florida last October when he collapsed to the floor at Universal Studios – the beginning of what was to become a turbulent year.

His admission to A&E would change his life. Barry, 32, woke up thinking nothing more than a case of dehydration in the Florida heat when the ambulance rushed him to hospital, but the reality was far different.

The diagnosis of a frontal lobe brain tumour of 3.5 centimetres in mass was the last thing he expected to hear.

After being stabilised, Barry remained on holiday for a further five days and flew out as planned, but was assisted by an on-flight medical escort for safety Immediately on returning, Barry was taken straight to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital to discuss the next step.

Barry was enjoying a day out at a theme park with his family the day it happened. He said: “I don’t know how long I was out for. I was literally three steps away from going on this ride. And it’s one of they ones where you stand in, the floor goes away, and you just shoot straight down so thankfully it happened before and not during.”

He added: “I felt fine right up until then. I had a few sore heads before going to America. I went to doctors and explained to them what it was.

"It was like a pulsing pain like behind my left eye and they said it sounded like a migraine. I went to the pharmacy, got some migraine relief tablets so every time I got a sore head I took them, and then 10 minutes later the sore heads would go away.” 

Once back home, surgery was scheduled straight away, which Barry recalls as one of the worst parts of his ordeal: “I was terrified of brain surgery, obviously, I was physically shaking.

“The day before my surgery was due, and when everyone left I was sitting there myself, I was like ‘Oh my God this is actually happening’. My fear was waking up and not knowing where I was and panicking, and knowing that someone was digging about up there."

The operation was a success as Dr Grivas managed to reduce the tumour to three millimetres.

Barry added: “Dr Grivas did say he would try and take out as much as he could, but because I was so young he said he didn’t want me to have a defect in my speech or my right hand side movement, so he decided to leave the 3mm in. And then we’ll see what the next step will be.”

Within four months of the operation, Barry was back at work and recovering well, however he was admitted back into hospital for six weeks due to a skull infection. Barry’s current treatment is chemotherapy and will soon have radiotherapy to reduce the tumour more.

He said: “I would like to thank neurosurgeon, Mr A Grivas and all the ward 63 staff for looking after me and my family during my time in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"All the staff were really friendly and always ensured I received the best possible care.”

Barry will be partaking in The Brain Tumour Charity’s Twilight Walk on October 20 to raise vital awareness of the condition.