BRAVE cancer patient David Liddell has won a competition set by Postman Pat at a recent visit to the hospital.

David, aged ten, has undergone extensive brain surgery at the Royal Preston Hospital, and will continue his treatment at Manchester's Christie Hospital later this month.

His parents, Gail and Richard, from Ashton, say their little boy's recovery has been amazingly speedy - he entered the Postman Pat colouring competition just one day after his latest operation.

The family's ordeal began 11 weeks ago when scans revealed that David, who had complained of headaches, was suffering from a brain tumour.

Mr Liddell said: "We were told by doctors at first that it was just a migraine. But when his vision started getting worse we took him to casualty.

"The next day he went for a scan and it was then they found a tumour the size of a small apple."

He had two operations in swift succession, one to reduce the pressure on his brain and one to remove most of the the tumour.

Doctors at Christie Hospital are set to asses him later this month and he is expected to undergo a course of radiotherapy. He returned to the hospital on Monday to collect his armful of art prizes.

David, a pupil at St Andrew's primary school in Ashton, said he would use them to keep him occupied during his stay at Christie's.

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