BLUSHING Lewis Brown basked in the limelight with Royalty when the Duchess of Kent picked him out for prestigious photocall.

Beaming with a mixture of embarrassment and pleasure, it was a moment the Bolton man would not forget in a hurry.

Mr Brown, aged 59, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in March -- but has been told that the cancer is now in remission, thanks to Christie Hospital.

The Duchess dropped in at the North-west's cancer hospital to see the Linea Accelerator, a life-saving new radiotherapy treatment which could benefit thousands of cancer patients.

And from a line of dignitaries, including ex-Christie directors, the Duchess hauled the Bolton man out to join her.

Lifelong smoker Mr Brown, a former Bolton Moor Lane bus station manager, said: "I was really embarrassed, but she was a fantastic woman. She went out of her way to put me at ease.

"I was due at Christie's for some radiotherapy. Then, they told me I was to meet her.

"I was very nervous, but she put her left arm around my waist and my nerves just vanished.

"We had a chat and then she went off to do some official pictures.

"The photographers asked her to re-do it all and she shouted at me and said 'I'm not doing it without my special friend'."

Christie Hospital which has been given £5 million from the Government to fund the accelerators, was delighted with the choice.

A spokesman said: "We were a little bit surprised because we had planned that she would choose the chairman.

"But we were thrilled because, at the end of the day, the patients are most important.

"We are a friendly family hospital and we wanted this to be very informal."

Mr Brown's cancer ordeal began when he fell ill while visiting his son in Holland in January.

He developed a chest infection and lost one-and-a-half stone in a week.

He went to see his GP on his return to Harwood, Bolton, and was given antibiotics.

Mr Brown, who smoked 60 cigarettes a day, said: "My son rang me up from Holland and urged me to go for a chest x-ray. I decided to follow his advice and went back to my family doctor, who referred me to the hospital.

"The hospital discovered I had pneumonia, but the specialist refused to accept the diagnosis and insisted I had a biopsy.

"That's when they told me that I had terminal lung cancer. I cannot describe how I was feeling when I left the hospital in my car to drive home. It was shattering."

However, a second biopsy showed he had small cell cancer which could be treated with chemotherapy.

He began a course of treatment at Christie's and was told that his cancer had fallen into remission in June.

He is now undergoing radiotherapy on his lymph gland and head to prevent the cells spreading.

Mr Brown said: "The Christie specialists said that they couldn't operate because they were worried the small cells would shoot off somewhere else in my body.

"It would have been a case of hide and seek, not knowing where they could develop into cancer. Hopefully, the radiotherapy will stop this."

Mr Brown and his wife, Kathleen, aged 60, have just been allowed a sunshine holiday to Spain because of the Bolton man's amazing progress.

Mr Brown said: "I'm now getting lots of support to pack in smoking. I think the stress of modern life means people are turning to cigarettes to relax.

"The thing that annoys me is that everyone condemns smoking but no one has the guts to ban it. There is too much money to be lost.

"Many people use a cigarette like a child uses a dummy. It is very difficult to give up, but I'm down to five a day now and getting loads of support from Harwood Health Centre."