A YOUNG dad stricken by a deadly brain tumour is defying doctors by staying alive using alternative medicine.

Mark Gowenlock, aged 27, was told he had just six months to live after three operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy failed to remove the growth.

But TWO YEARS after doctors discovered the tumour, the father of four is still battling on - thanks to a cocktail of herbal remedies.

Today he said: "At the moment I feel fine. Everytime I wake up in the morning and see the sun through my bedroom window I think it's a bonus."

Mark, of Eccles Road, Swinton, was told just before Christmas in 1996 that nine months of intensive treatment had failed and he would die. "We were devastated," he said. "It was such a bolt from the blue because I'd been fit and well before that."

The tile maker was forced to quit his job at Pilkington Tiles, Clifton, and his young family - wife Julie, aged 26, son Daniel, aged nine, and daughters Emma, aged six, Natalie, aged three, and Lauren, aged two - prepared for their last few weeks together.

But then, after hearing about alternative medicine on a radio show, he signed up for a £100-a-week course of treatment - with amazing results. Mark was prescribed a variety of remedies - including powdered shark's cartilage - which aims to purify blood and fight cancerous cells.

And now he says doctors are amazed when he keeps turning up at hospital.

"They can't believe it," he said. "But I'm just grateful for every extra day this gives me." Mark needs crutches to walk because steroids prescribed to stop his brain swelling have affected his muscles and hips. I don't go out much because I get tired very easily," he said. "I have my good days and I have my bad days, but the main thing is that I'm still here."

Mark's dad Bob and mum Ann, who help their son pay for his expensive private treatment, paid tribute to their son's bravery. "He's been through such a lot, but he still keeps smiling," said Bob. "It's a miracle he's still here, but the remedies are worth every penny for every extra day they keep him with us."

Meanwhile, workers at Bob's firm MEL Engineering, Clifton, have raised £500 for Mark - by doing a Full Monty.

Male staff wore nothing but builders' hats and tiny dust masks to make the cash which will help pay for Mark's alternative treatment. Another £500 raised by the striptease will go to Bolton schoolgirl Charlotte Russell, who is battling a life-threatening genetic disorder.

Charlotte, aged 12, whose mum Debra is a supervisor at MEL, launched an appeal in aid of Royal Manchester Children's Hospital's bone marrow unit after she fell ill. And David Birmingham, one of 14 likely lads to bare all, told the BEN it was worth all the embarrassment and jibes at work to help.

"It was a bit of fun and of course we've taken some terrible stick," he said. "But we thought it was a great way to raise money for two very brave people." Mark himself added: "I'm really grateful."

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