Gun drummer Paul McManus has revealed he feels lucky to be alive after getting the all-clear following a secret battle with bowel cancer.
The rock star feared he would never play with his beloved band again after doctors discovered the malignant tumour in February.
And when specialists told him the strain was aggressive and fast moving, he started thinking about getting his affairs in order.
Paul, 56, said: “I didn’t think I would ever sit behind a drum kit again. For a while there, I seriously thought my drumming days were over.
“I’ve been gifted a second chance at life and I’m planning to use every second of it. I have been taking life for granted but I now realise today is a gift and tomorrow is promised to no one.
“My new motto is carpe diem and, thanks to the incredible NHS who saved me, I hopefully have many years of drumming left in me.”
Against all the odds, skilled surgeons removed the entire tumour before it spread.
Last night, just four months after his diagnosis, the musician was back playing with bandmates Dante and Jules Gizzi, Andy Carr and Davie Aitken at a packed Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh.
Paul, who has been with the award-winning hard rock band full-time since 2009, hid the real reason for his six-month absence from fans.
He said: “The last gig I did was at the Barrowland in early December so I haven’t played in six months.
“I decided not to share the reason for my absence with fans because at first the prognosis wasn’t that great and I was coming to terms with it myself.
Then, when things improved, I began concentrating on getting myself fit enough to drum again.”
Paul started to feel unwell at the start of the year but put it down to working too hard and stress. When he got a pain in his lower abdomen, he decided it was time to see his doctor.
The musician, who grew up in the village of Forth in South Lanarkshire, said: “I took myself off for tests and soon after, on February 6, I was told I had bowel cancer. I was knocked for six, especially when they said it was aggressive and fast moving. I started thinking of getting my affairs in order.
“Fortunately, luck was on my side. Usually by the time they discover the strain of cancer I had, it’s game over but due to the pain they caught it much quicker.”
Paul, who has played with some of the biggest names in the music industry, added: “I had a 10-hour operation to remove the tumour and some of my small bowel on February 28 in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.Once again I caught a lucky break as they were able to remove it in its entirety plus the lymph nodes.
"Afterwards the doctors told me that if the tumour had been an inch to the left or right, I would have been in big trouble and they would not have got it all.
“Being told the cancer was completely gone was nearly as shocking as the diagnosis itself. I had to come to terms with the fact my life was not ending.”
Paul, who now lives in Glasgow’s west end, credits the NHS for saving his life and urges other men who are worried about their health to get checked out sooner rather than later.
The percussionist said: “I will never be able to thank the NHS. Everyone, from the porters and cleaners to the nurses, doctors and consultants, they have all been incredible. We are so lucky to have the NHS – they should not be taken for granted.
“I want to encourage people, especially men, to engage with screenings and tests. Men don’t go to the doctor as they think they are bulletproof.There is a very strong chance I would not be here today if I had carried on as if nothing was wrong.”
Once he got the all-clear, Paul, who got his first endorsement with a drum company aged just six, worked really hard to get back to the band.
He said: “I am very driven so I forced myself to get better as quickly as I could.
“Gun is my baby – to be away from it was difficult. A friend stood in but seeing him play was like watching someone else out on a date with your girlfriend.
“I also missed playing with the boys. They have been very supportive. They did their best playing nurse but, although they were useless, their hearts were in the right place. Who brings a guy with bowel cancer a steak pie?”
Paul, who will take to the stage with Gun at Venue38 in Ayr tonight, also runs several businesses across the globe including a quarry and a drum company in Chicago and is heavily involved with charity work and wants to do more good.
Last year he donated £130,000 to Scottish Labour after being impressed with the leadership and wanted to give young people more chances in life.
He said: “I’ve learned life is too short, I’m going to take a look at how hard I’m working and put even more energy into the good causes close to my heart.
“I want to give young people more opportunities and the chance to carpe diem and I plan to make even more music with the band. Now every beat of the drum means so much more.”
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