I had days to live - but five months later I'm still making memories

After returning home from hospital, Charlie Lock was told he had two weeks to live - but five months later, he is still finding "dying wishes" to achieve.

He has not only battled an aggressive and rare terminal brain cancer, but fought to regain movement in his body after devastating seizures that left him in a medically-induced coma.

Despite these things, he's married his childhood sweetheart, travelled to Norway, and achieved a "lifelong dream" of quizzing Sir Tim Berners-Lee on how he created the World Wide Web.

Charlie, 19, is not done yet, he wants to catch his new wife in his arms after she completes a skydive.

"I was upset that I'd broken my promise to Judy that I'd be with her forever," he said.

"I intend to spend every second I have left sucking air with her and my family.

"That was, and is, my vow."

Charlie, from Merthyr Tydfil, was enjoying his first year studying cyber security at the University of Gloucester after achieving four A-levels and securing a prestigious scholarship.

As he has autism, living independently alongside girlfriend Judy was a major milestone.

"The only thing I was worried about was what was in the fridge," he said.

Then came the headaches and sickness.

His mother, Cerys Lock, remembers Charlie describing an "impending sense of doom" that he couldn't explain.

In November, he was rushed to hospital after collapsing in A&E.

Scans revealed a tumour later diagnosed as a grade four glioblastoma - an aggressive brain cancer which the family say doctors rarely encounter in someone Charlie's age.

"The person who did the scan looked at the sheet and went white as a sheet," Charlie recalled.

"The look she gave me was one of pure terror. It's like she'd seen a ghost."

It was news no mother expects about her teenage son.

"That day was devastating," Cerys said. "Absolutely devastating."

Charlie underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but his condition continued to worsen.

Then, on 13 February, he suffered around 10 seizures and was rushed to hospital, where he was placed into a medically-induced coma.

"The consultant's words were 'there is no way he can wake up from this'," Cerys said.

"Guess what? He did."

Within hours, Charlie was awake and trying to get out of bed.

Cerys laughed as she recalled what happened next.

"The doctor pulled back the curtain and he's sat there with a Big Mac in his hand," she says.

"He said 'in all my years working in ITU, I've never seen a patient sat there eating a full-on McDonald's'.

"He's got a very wicked humour.

"He has the nurses and carers in stitches most days. If we're not laughing, we're crying."

But during one of the darkest periods of his life, Charlie knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"Love at first sight. I knew I wanted to marry her from the day I met her," he said of Judy, his girlfriend of three years.

Cerys said the pair had been inseparable from the beginning.

"They've always been like that," she said.

"We kiss quite a lot," Charlie added.

Not too long after waking from the coma, he proposed.

"Even if it's the last thing I do, I want to marry you," he told Judy.

Just two weeks later, on 16 March, the couple married at Llechwin Hall, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

"There have been many times where doctors have told me I was dead meat - not in those words - but I've been told several times that I was going to die very soon," Charlie said.

"I never imagined I'd have to face that this early. I wish I'd discovered it after I'd had a chance to live a life."

He then jokes: "I've left some sperm samples for Judy when I'm gone so I can leave her little annoyances."

"Starting a family was something we'd always wanted," Judy added.

Charlie also developed an infection which turned out to be meningitis.

Doctors wanted him to remain in hospital but made exceptions to allow him to attend his wedding.

"They said he only had two to three days. He was so poorly," Cerys said.

Yet after he returned home, something unexpected happened, and she added: "He started getting stronger and stronger."

Months later, Charlie is still here.

His family have said the nurses and carers have been "wonderful", but argue Charlie has fallen between children's, adult and palliative services, leaving them struggling to access equipment and rehabilitation.

"He's 19. He doesn't want to be laying in bed," Cerys said.

"He didn't fit into Noah's Ark Hospital, because he was 18, we had to come under Velindre as an adult.

"As lovely as staff are, the place isn't adolescent-friendly at all. It was really upsetting for Charlie and Judy.

"They sent us home expecting Charl not to be here, but he is here, and it feels like he doesn't fit any particular pathway."

A Velindre University NHS Trust spokesperson said the service works "closely with partners to provide coordinated, person-centred support" and was committed to continually improving the experience of patients and families.

Executive Director of Nursing at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Jason Roberts said: "We are committed to providing safe, compassionate and high-quality care to all patients and take any concerns raised about our services seriously."

Across Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, specialist palliative care services include physiotherapy, occupational therapy and support for young people moving from children's to adult services.

Care is assessed and tailored to individual clinical needs, with support varying depending on each patient's circumstances, a spokesperson said.

Since returning home, Charlie has married Judy, flown in a helicopter in Norway, met Sir Tim Berners-Lee and began regaining movement in his left hand.

He was due to meet the internet's creator in person to quiz him, but was too ill, so chatted to him on a video call.

"A few people have said what I've done is not possible or responsible," Charlie said.

But he still has goals.

At the top of the list is continuing his rehabilitation and watching his wife complete a charity skydive.

The challenge holds special significance for Charlie, who completed a skydive himself on his 18th birthday and still describes it as one of the best experiences of his life.

"It's my dying wish," he said.

He tells his wife: "I'll be there when you land and you can land in my arms."