Tennis Pro Gets Intoxicated After One Drink. It's a Sign of Something Lethal
Doctors initially dismissed a lump in his neck as a "harmless" cyst, but he pushed for more tests, which discovered that he had melanoma
He underwent surgery and treatment, but the cancer spread to his brainA tennis teacher who says he could down a bottle of wine without feeling intoxicated started getting drunk after just one glass — the only symptom, he says, of a devastating, invasive skin cancer.
Simon Bowler, 50, says that in October 2023, he started to notice that his tolerance for alcohol had significantly diminished. 'I can usually drink a bottle of wine and not feel anything,' he said, according to Daily Mail. A week after he realized he was getting tipsy quickly, Bowler, who hails from the English village of Thorley, said a lump suddenly appeared on his neck and was accompanied by what he described as a 'strange head fuzz' and blurry vision.
Doctors dismissed the lump as a 'harmless' cyst — but Bowler, unconvinced, returned to his doctors for more tests. That's when an ultrasound discovered the devastating news — which Bowler was told while he was driving to work.
'He asked if I was sitting down. I told him I was driving, and he asked me to pull over,' he said, adding that's when 'I knew it was bad news. He said they suspected cancer.'
The tumor, he said, was melanoma — the most lethal form of skin cancer. While skin cancer is the 'most common type of cancer' in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society melanoma accounts for only about 1% of cases. Still, it 'causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.'
In February 2024, he underwent a successful surgery to remove the tumors and began a yearlong course of immunotherapy. But nine months later, Bowler says he knew something was wrong.
The symptoms he had experienced when the lump was first discovered returned, he explained: 'To be honest, I didn't feel right in my head. I started having blurred vision again, and I couldn't switch off at night.'
The cancer had spread to his brain — or as he said in a GoFundMe, 'I had 2 minuscule melanoma cells in my brain. The consultants reassured me that following my neck procedure this was not uncommon,' and the treatment prescribed was targeted radiation to 'zap it out.'
But in March 2025, Bowler struggled with the treatment, having a severe gastrointestinal reaction that caused him to be hospitalized for 10 days. While there, he had an adverse reaction to steroids, which caused nerve damage to his limbs.
'I felt numb, battered. It was like I'd been hit by a truck. I've got wobbly legs now and a right hand that can barely grip a racket, let alone type. But I'm still trying,' said Bowler, who shared that he's thankful for the support of his wife, Tracey. 'That hospital stay nearly broke me. When I got home, I'd just burst into tears for days. It stripped away everything that felt like me.'
Along with paying for treatment, the GoFundMe is intended to help Bowler launch a company that makes tennis accessories, as he's struggling to work. 'With my physicalities as they are, a successful lesson is me not falling over,' he explained in the fundraiser, which is also donating to mental health and cancer charities.
As he told Daily Mail, 'It's OK to cry. It's OK to admit you're not OK. I've been stripped of a lot of my identity — but I haven't lost my will to keep going.'
'I just want to get back to helping people, mentoring young players, and showing them what resilience looks like.'
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