A PENSIONER has become a long-distance supporter of the East Lancashire SuperScan Appeal after his life was saved by a scan hundreds of miles away.

Mr Stanley Bradshaw, who lives in Algeciras, Spain, underwent a major operation after a scan showed three tumours said to be the size of golf balls on his brain.

Stanley, 66, who used to live in Preston, moved abroad after meeting his second wife Maruja through the Lancashire Evening Telegraph Kate Friendly page, now Two's Company.

"When my first wife died all my purpose in life disappeared," he said. "I decided that the weather wasn't all that good here and thought I'd like to live somewhere in Spain. "I read Maruja's advertisement in the paper and decided to contact her.

"She was Spanish and was living in Darwen and working as a domestic at Christie Hospital.

"We arranged to meet in Morrisons coffee bar in Blackburn and hit it off straight away."

They were married at Preston register office in June 1991 and then made plans to move to Spain.

"We have lived an idyllic life for three years travelling the length and breadth of Spain until July," he said.

"I was just out walking the dogs one day in the countryside at the back of our home and I found I was having difficulty walking. "Doctors thought I had suffered a stroke but my wife fought to get a second opinion and they agreed I should have a scan."

Stanley was taken in an ambulance with a police escort to have the scan at Cadiz hospital where the tumours were found.

He was told the operation to remove them carried a great risk but it was a success.

Stanley is still receiving treatment but is now recovering at his home.

He said: "The scanner was a wonderful machine and saved my life. It's brilliant that we're trying to get another one for Lancashire.

"I am still alive thanks to the marvellous Spanish surgeons and the scanner."

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