A FORMER editor of the Denbighshire Free Press has celebrated the New Year with a new book describing his recovery from cancer, after being told he only had a one-in-10 chance of survival.

His GP recently said his survival was a “medical miracle”.

Back in September 1987, Nic Outterside, then aged 31 and living in rural Herefordshire, was diagnosed with a fast-spreading malignant cancer of the right shoulder.

Eight months later, following two operations to remove his shoulder muscle and most of his right lung, plus six weeks of radiotherapy, Nic was told there was nothing more the doctors could do, and was given a one-in-10 chance of surviving five years.

Journalist and author Nic Outerside.

Journalist and author Nic Outerside.

Ten years of check-ups and scans followed without any further treatment, until in 1998 he was eventually told he was officially “cured”.

“My cancer journey took in five hospitals: St Lawrence in Chepstow, Velindre in Cardiff, Llandough in Penarth, the Christie in Manchester and the Beatson Oncology Institute in Glasgow. The whole experience was roller-coaster and I met many people who I will never forget,” said Nic.

“Recently my GP, said: ‘Your story is what many would describe as a medical miracle, and proves that there is always hope’.

“But I also lost friends along the way, including my soul-mate Andrea, who was younger than me and succumbed to an incurable bone cancer in 1990, aged just 23.

“I still grieve for her, and this book is dedicated to the most life-affirming person I have ever known.”

Now retired, aged 67, after an award-winning career in magazine and newspaper journalism and a father of five adult children, and living in Penn Fields, Wolverhampton Nic passes his time as an author and book publisher.

Soul Survivor by Nic Outerside.

Soul Survivor by Nic Outerside.

Now he has told his story.

Soul Survivor – a cancer adventure is now available as a 6” x 9” paperback priced £8.99 on all Amazon platforms and at Waterstones online.

“I owe my life to the doctors and nurses and my family who have stood by me along the way,” Nic said.

“My story is for them and many others who have had their own brush with cancer.

“The words of US doctor and fellow cancer survivor Fitzhugh Mullen MD always stay with me: Doctors are seldom right, when they predict the end.”