Dunfermline-born Smith was born with a club foot and fused ankle, and last May discovered that he had the tumour after an MRI scan.

Smith told the Dunfermline Press: "I was getting a lot of pain in my neck and was losing feeling in my fingers and throughout my body so the doctors said I possibly had a bulging disc in my neck.

"They took me to the hospital and the scan found a tumour the size of a tennis ball.

"If they didn't take it out, I was going to be paralysed from the neck down in a wheelchair."

Following a successful operation Smith has done well to even remain a competitive athlete, and has now been named in Britain's adaptive coxed fours team for the World Rowing Championships, taking place in Slovenia this month.

The team won gold two years ago in record-breaking fashion, and he is hoping a repeat success can put him and the team in prime position for London next year.

Smith began as a runner, winning regional titles before being forced to take up winter sports as a result of the problems posed by his foot, after which he found his way into rowing.

"Bobsleigh is always something that's talked about around track and field as a lot of ex-sprinters go to it," said Smith.

"I was in the national team and one of the top pushers in the country for a few years.

"I was very, very close to going to the [2006] Olympics [in Turin], I had all the qualifying standards but unfortunately my tumour played up the year of the Games.

"At first I wasn't really sure but I found rowing was extremely high performance and people aren't aware that there are quite a few Paralympians who double up their national teams with the Paralympics.

"At the top level of Paralympic sport there's a very thin line between them and the able-bodied athletes.

"I love sport and wasn't ready to retire but my body had given up before my mind, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

"London 2012 is always there in your mind as an athlete.

"To compete at your home Games is a tremendous honour and a lot of pressure.

"After what happened to me last year, I realise how crucial it is to focus on the daily events and the rest will take care of itself."

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