Ashley Curtis, a plumber from Swansea, was just 30 when a dream family holiday turned into a nightmare after he suffered seizures and was diagnosed with a oligodendroglioma brain tumour. Following two major surgeries in 2024, including an awake craniotomy, Ashley is now back working, playing football and enjoying family life with his wife Casey and their children.
Here is Ashley’s story, as told by his wife, Casey ...
When I look back now, there were signs something wasn’t right long before Ashley’s diagnosis.
In 2022, our son Leo was only around six weeks old when Ashley collapsed at the doctor’s surgery. They thought it might have been cardiac related at first because he completely lost consciousness. They did ECGs and checks but didn’t scan his brain. Nothing untoward was found and life went on.
Looking back now, we believe that was probably his first seizure.
Other than that, Ashley was healthy. He would sometimes say he felt dizzy or strange, but there were no major symptoms that made us think something serious was wrong.
In March 2024, we went on a family holiday to Miami to board a cruise. It was meant to be a special trip for Ashley’s 30th birthday. On the last day of the cruise, while we were heading back to port, Ashley suddenly had a seizure on deck.
I had never seen a seizure before in my life. It was terrifying.
The onboard doctor checked him over and told him to rest and eat something. Later that evening, we went for dinner and he had another seizure in the restaurant.
Ashley was then advised to go straight to hospital as soon as we docked. There was an ambulance waiting at the port and he was taken to the University of Miami Hospital.
We were supposed to be flying home to the UK that evening, but, after scans, the doctors told us Ashley had a brain tumour and would need urgent surgery.
It didn’t feel real hearing those words. It was like a nightmare.
Because we were there with our children Leilah, six, and Leo, three, as well as other family members, we had to make the heartbreaking decision for everyone else to fly home while I stayed in America with Ashley and his parents.
He had surgery two days later and was diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma. Everything happened so quickly and at that point we knew nothing about brain tumours or what life would look like afterwards.
Afterwards, we had to remain in America for a month until Ashley was fit to fly home. He began suffering focal seizures where his jaw and hand would twitch, but thankfully the medication helped to control them.
When we returned to Wales, doctors carried out more scans and told us they believed they could remove more of the tumour. Ashley then underwent a second surgery in Cardiff – an awake craniotomy – on 28th June 2024.
After the operation, he lost movement and feeling down his left side completely.
It was devastating. He had physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and worked so hard to regain his strength and movement.
Now things are much better. Ashley is back working as a plumber, he’s playing football again and we’re trying to enjoy life as normally as possible.
Ashley has six-monthly scans. But there is always a cloud hanging over us, but we try to stay positive.
You never think something like this will happen to your family. Brain tumours come out of nowhere.
What I want people receiving a diagnosis today to know is that there is hope. Everybody’s journey is different, but there can absolutely be life after a brain tumour.
There are people living with brain tumours for many years and still living fulfilling lives. Ashley is proof of that. And with thanks to charities like Brain Tumour Research hopefully a cure will soon be found. My sister Harleigh is doing a skydive this year and jumping 10,000ft to raise money and awareness of the impact of brain tumours.
Ashley and I got married last year, and now we are focusing on making memories together as a family and appreciating every moment.
Casey Curtis
May 2026
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been inspired by Ashley’s story, or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure.
