He had only recently returned from a round-the-world trip when Brave model, Freddy Hornby, was forced to deal with a cancer diagnosis.
Yet one of the things that gave the Inverurie engineer the motivation to fight the disease was the fact his girlfriend decided to travel from the other side of the globe to support him.
The 25-year-old, who will take to the catwalk during Brave at the Beach Ballroom on Friday May 5 to raise money for charity Friends of Anchor, was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer, with tumours in his stomach and neck, last November.
Having just enjoyed an 18-month trip travelling and working in Japan, Hong Kong, Fiji, Indonesia and Australia, the cancer diagnosis was tough for him to absorb.
But the engineer was bolstered by his English girlfriend Kate McCulloch – the couple met while working in Cairns on Australia’s north east coast – journeying to the north east with him as he awaited treatment.
Mr Hornby received four three-week cycles of chemotherapy, the last of which ended on February 12.
He is still awaiting surgery to remove one of his testicles and surgery to potentially remove any remaining mass in his stomach.
But he was quick to pay tribute to Miss McCulloch for supporting him along with his family, friends and the team that treated him.
He said: “The diagnosis was very difficult to deal with, you freeze up when they tell you that it is cancer.
“Kate’s been a huge support to me and, throughout the tough days when I couldn’t face getting out of bed, she motivated me through the last few cycles.
“When I got diagnosed she came back and looked after me which was really nice of her considering that we had only been together seven or eight months – that was a big commitment.
“Along with my family and friends, the surgeons, the nurses and the oncology team, she has been fantastic.”
Miss McCulloch also played a part in Mr Hornby choosing to participate in Brave.
Along with his mother, Sandra, she nominated Mr Hornby for the catwalk show to try to give something back.
He added: “Friends of Anchor have been brilliant to me. They do so many small things when you are in hospital which make a big difference.
“So my mother and girlfriend were pushing me to do Brave to give something back to Friends of Anchor.
“I wasn’t very keen because I am quite a private person.
“It was very hard to tell people close to me about cancer, let alone strangers, but the whole event is about raising awareness, so I thought it was important I was able to share my story and so this is to help raise awareness.”
