A dad from Glenrothes, Fife, was left 'only able to speak and think in French' after suffering a seizure triggered by a brain tumour.
Marcus Jones, 24, began experiencing headaches in September last year, shortly after the birth of his son Finnick.
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He was then diagnosed with epilepsy, however, a further devastating scan revealed a tumour on his occipital lobe, the part of the brain associated with visual processing.
The father of one suffered side effects including vision problems, memory loss and brain fog. During one seizure he even lost the ability to speak English to his partner Abbie Armstrong, 20.
He said: "It was terrifying. I could see my partner and I was trying to tell her I was having a seizure but I could only think and speak in French," reports the Scottish Express.
"My French is not fantastic. I studied at school at Higher level but I hadn't used it for a number of years. It only lasted for a couple of minutes but I was thinking fluently and I recognised it was French.
"Afterwards, I was straight back to speaking English.
"It was terrifying because I was trying to communicate with her but just couldn't."
Marcus's tumour is classed as low-grade, which means doctors have been unable to give an exact prognosis. But fears over his life expectancy have led him to opt to have the tumour surgically removed, though there is a risk he may lose part of his sight.
He explained: "It's going to be quite difficult to remove because it's low grade, which means the tumour looks like healthy brain tissue.
"My surgeon said he is confident he can get at least 70 per cent out but there is part of it which is located on the folds of the brain, which he is not so confident about.
"If he can get it all out, the odds of survival are around 90 per cent for someone in my demographic.
"It sounds crazy but I wanted to be awake for the procedure so I could tell him if I was experiencing any issues with my vision."
The former care home team leader added that if not for 14-month-old Finnick he might not have opted for the surgery.
He said: "I want to make sure I'm here for my son. If it wasn't for him I would maybe wait and see but there isn't the time.
"I'm hopeful... and terrified. Part of me wishes I had more time to make up my mind about whether I want the surgery but my wee family has changed everything. I have to make sure I'm around for a long time so it's the lesser of two evils."
His relatives have since set up a GoFundMe page for donations to ease the financial burden on the young family. Mr Jones has been doing up their new home and "making the most of what could be my last normal Christmas."
He said: "I have a lot of guilt about this. I don't like asking people for help but sometimes you need to.
"I'm massively grateful to everyone who's donated so far and I wish they could see how much of an impact it's had for us.
Our new home is through the council but the money people have donated has helped so much with paying for utilities, moving costs and the day-to-day costs of our lives."
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He also urged people to be vigilant about any unusual symptoms. "I was getting these headaches and weird sleep and vision problems but I just brushed it off as tiredness or dehydration." he said.
"I think it's common for a lot of men to avoid speaking to their doctor but we all need to take it seriously. If I had, maybe I could have caught it sooner.
"I am not usually one for opening up - but if telling my story can make even one person think, it will be worth it."
"I'm hopeful... and terrified."
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