Colin Hossack was diagnosed with liver cancer completely by chance.
But despite his shock he is glad the illness was detected because it has allowed him to take part in Brave and meet new friends.
Mr Hossack is one of 24 models who will take to the catwalk for the inaugural Brave show at the Beach Ballroom on Friday, May 5.
The 55 year old’s cancer was spotted during a a routine scan in June last year – and as a result he feels lucky to be alive.
He explained: “It was just through a regular scan and something showed up.
“Then it was investigated and diagnosed as being cancer and I wasn’t actually sick which made it tougher to deal with.
“It was a complete and utter shock right up until the final diagnosis.
“I didn’t really believe that it was cancer – I thought it must have been something else.
“There had been no sign of anything before that.
“I’m really thankful it was found because of the type of cancer it was if I had gone in because I was sick the likelihood is that there probably wasn’t much they could have done about it.
“It was a very aggressive type of cancer so I was extremely lucky that they found it.”
The Cruden Bay resident had surgery last August.
Despite not having experiences of Friends of Anchor Mr Hossack signed up for Brave after reading about it in the Press and Journal and has enjoyed meeting his fellow models and listening to their stories.
He added: “Meeting the other guys and listening to their stories, you feel pretty humbled hearing what some of the guys have been through compared to what I’ve been through.
“There’s a lot of the guys still getting treatment so I feel pretty lucky and meeting the other guys has been a great thing for me and I have really enjoyed it.
“I’m sure there is a lot of guys in the group that will remain friends with me for many, many years to come.”
