Staffordshire soldier's brain tumour cancer 'no longer visible'
A 21-year-old who was diagnosed with a brain tumour during his army training before undergoing surgery to remove it says his cancer is "no longer visible" on scans.
Cameron Ray was given three years to live before having the tumour removed at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital last year. The procedure featured on BBC Two documentary "Surgeons: At The Edge of Life". The news came as a shock, Mr Ray said. "I was quite shocked and surprised that they said they can't see the tumour at all, there are no cancerous cells where the tumour was and, if it continues like this, they're happy to put me into remission which is something we never thought we'd ever hear. "It took a few days to sink in," Mr Ray, who is from Darwen, near Preston, said. He was diagnosed with the tumour in February 2018, when he was only part-way through his training at Whittington Barracks, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, to become an army medic. Neurosurgeon Ismail Ughratdar, of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, carried out the operation to remove the ping pong ball-sized tumour in June 2018, while Mr Ray was awake. "I can still do absolutely everything I could do before due to my amazing surgeon," Mr Ray said. Since then, Mr Ray has undergone further treatment at Royal Preston Hospital, which is run by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Geraldine Skailes, trust medical director, said: "We will continue to closely monitor him to assess whether he will need any further treatment in the future." Hugh Adams from charity Brain Tumour Research said: "We're delighted that the news has been so positive for Cameron. He really is a remarkable young man." Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.