The 28-year-old plumber wasn't too worried as he sat in Noble's Hospital on August 21 last year, waiting for the results of a brain scan taken after he suffered a bad seizure earlier that evening.

He had already experienced eight brief fits in the previous four months, but shrugged them off as the effects of tiredness.

The scan was taken at 9pm, and the results came back at 11pm.

It was a tumour in the left frontal lobe of his brain that had caused the blackouts.

In this age of scientific advancement, such news is no longer an automatic death sentence.

But the diagnosis worsened six weeks later when the results of a second scan and a biopsy on the tumour at the Walton Centre for Neurology in Liverpool showed it was an astrocytoma.

An astrocytoma is a frighteningly efficient tumour that attacks the nervous system.

This means that, even if an inherently dangerous operation to remove the tumour is successful, the disease remains within malfunctioning cells in a sufferer's brain.

Worst of all was the stark message from doctors that the astrocytoma was inoperable in the Isle of Man and the UK.

The saving grace, if there was one, was the classification of Mike's condition as grade two, indicating a slow growing and benign tumour rather than a grade three or four aggressive malign growth.

A grade two astrocytoma, one of the rarest types of brain tumour, gives Mike a life expectancy of seven or eight years. Grade three or four would make it unlikely for him to live another five years.

Mike, of Robert Cubbon Close, Douglas, is scheduled to return to the Walton Centre every six months for brain scans. The first, in April, showed the tumour had not worsened.

But he has suffered three more attacks since then, despite taking epilepsy drugs to suppress them.

Looking back, Mike admits he should have reacted to the warning signs.

'I thought the seizures happened because I had been burning the candle at both ends, and I ignored them,' he said. 'I just didn't think about it, I was just cracking on with things.

'The doctors don't know how long I've had it, they can only say it's well established. But I think I might have had it all my life. I've always been tired but had sudden rushes of adrenalin now and then, which the doctors said shows the onset of a tumour.'

Despite the odds, Mike remains strongly optimistic about finding a cure.

'When I was diagnosed, it didn't scare me,' he said. 'I didn't break down and cry. I just thought "Let's get rid of it".

'Everyone else was more affected than I was - my family and friends did my crying for me.

'But we all agreed that we must have a positive outlook and work hard to try to get rid of the tumour.

'My life hasn't changed but my new purpose in life is to get rid of this tumour. I always wondered what I was meant to do with my life, and I think this is it.'

Mike wasn't prepared to accept doctors' recommendations to wait until the tumour becomes aggressive and hit it with a single severe dose of radiation, so he began searching for other options.

He eventually got in touch with Dr Peter Black, the world's leading neurologist, at a medical facility in Boston.

After an agonising wait, Dr Black agreed to look at Mike's case, with the possibility of treatment in October or November this year.

Dr Black's proposal involves an operation to remove 90 to 100 per cent of the tumour (any less would allow it to grow back), then exposing malfunctioning cells in Mike's nervous system to radiation.

There are no guarantees the procedure will be performed, or that it would be successful.

But Mike says he has taken inspiration from the story of world champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, who beat testicular cancer even after it spread to other parts of his body.

'I like to think I'll be able to beat it, and be the first to beat it,' he said.

'I'm excited about the trip to Boston, because they invited me for a reason. They think they can help me in some way.

'At the moment I'm in limbo. I hope they can still help me and the tumour hasn't changed, but I just won't know until I'm there. It's like a time bomb.'

A bank account has been opened in Mike's name to fund his first consultation with Dr Black in Boston later this month, plus any subsequent treatment.

New donations are received every day into the account, which now holds around £5,000.

Much of it has come from colleagues at Aqua Plumbing and Heating, former colleagues at Royal Skandia and friends at the Department of Trade and Industry, where he qualified as a tradesman.

Eighteen people joined him in the Parish Walk — in which he completed 24 miles — to boost the fundraising total. They plan to donate more sponsorship money from the End to End Walk.

'The support I've received has been ace, people have really been clubbing together,' Mike said.

He explained that their belief had strengthened his resolve to get well again.

He added: 'Even if Dr Black can't help me, the money that has been raised can sit there until something comes along that I need. There's got to be something out there that can cure me.

'I've been told that doctors are two or three years away from being able to treat astrocytomas as effectively as they treat other tumours. I've just got to live that long.'

Donations can be made by contacting Mike via email on pharjah@hotmail.co.uk or by sending cheques, made payable to Mr M. T. Bellis, to 3 Robert Cubbon Close, Douglas, IM2 6PT.