Golfer Severiano Ballesteros publicly offered thanks for his recovery from a brain tumour in an interview with Sports paper Diario Marca on Tuesday. The 52-year-old, who won the British Open on four occasions and was two times winner of the US Masters, was diagnosed with cancer in October last year.

Ballesteros underwent four operations before being discharged from hospital on December 9. Although he continues to receive treatment, the popular golfer is well on the way to recovery, despite losing 15 kilograms in weight.

"I now weigh the same as I did when I was 22-years-old," said Ballesteros in the interview.

"What I would like to do is try and help the Cancer Investigation Foundation at the La Paz Hospital in Madrid (where he was treated). Sickness doesn't distinguish between races, ideology or nationalities and it is the real enemy of all of us," he said.

As a symbol of his popularity, Ballesteros has so far received over 300,000 messages from all over the world, he admits that they helped him in his struggle for life.

"I feel very loved by everyone, I feel very grateful for what everyone has done for me," he commented.

"All of these years I have had to concentrate on myself, I now get the feeling of how fortunate I have been and of all of the great moments I have had in my life," he said.

However, Ballesteros admitted he will need time before playing golf in the near future

【体坛英语资讯：Ballesteros offers thanks for his cancer recovery】相关文章：

★ 体坛英语资讯：Bitter battles about the rights to athletes

★ 体坛英语资讯：Fresh Wang leads short-track skaters

★ 体坛英语资讯：All the NBA is a stage

★ 体坛英语资讯：Coach cares for Liu like a son

★ 体坛英语资讯：Liu settles for nothing but world title

★ 体坛英语资讯：Liu feels for Yao but denies extra pressure

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Lindsay Lohan glams up for once

★ 体坛英语资讯：England manager Capello faces perjury probe

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Jessica Simpson lathers up for mens magazine cover

★ 体坛英语资讯：New Asian champion Pan returns to starting line