A father learned he had a fatal brain tumor after experiencing debilitating migraines at his son’s first birthday party — and now he says he hopes he can see his son make it to age two. Elliot Godfrey began experiencing headaches during a family trip to Mexico in March, but he chalked it up to the stress and sleeplessness of being a new father, as he and his wife, Jess, had welcomed their son, Aein, a year before. It was at the toddler’s first birthday party where Godfrey, who lives in the English village of Waddesdon, struggled with headaches so severe that his friends urged him to seek medical care, per a report in Daily Mail. That’s where scans diagnosed the 42-year-old dad with stage 4 glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. As the Mayo Clinic explains, “There's no cure for glioblastoma. Treatments might slow cancer growth and reduce symptoms.” Godfrey was offered surgery, but as he said, doctors “gave me a 20 percent chance that I could die from surgery. Sitting there with my family that was obviously pretty devastating and quite scary.” When the former professional golfer, who now owns a golf club called Pitch, looked up his cancer online, “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.” Most people with glioblastoma live 12 to 18 months after their diagnosis, and the 5-year-survival rate is a bleak 5%, the Cleveland Clinic says. “When I got home, my son Aein's one-year-old birthday balloon was still there,” he said. “I sat there, and I thought "Will I get to see 2? Will I get to see 4?’ I just want to be here for as long as possible for him.” Godfrey did undergo brain surgery, which he said removed about 95% of the tumor, and is treating the rest with chemo and radiation. As he told the outlet, “I'm doing absolutely everything I can to increase my chances of long-term survival.” That includes raising funds for experimental treatment, like emerging immunotherapies and other treatments, via a GoFundMe, where he explains, “I just need time.” “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,” Godfrey explained. “I'm incredibly lucky to have my network around me. I didn't think I could love my wife Jess any more 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.” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.