A MALVERN-born jockey will be back on the saddle this weekend just six months after winning his battle with cancer.

Adam Brown was diagnosed with testicular cancer in January and after intensive treatment went into remission at the end of May.

Now, after a gruelling training regime, he will ride his horse Gazump at the first meeting of the point-to-point season in Devon tomorrow.

After taking up the sport when he was 17, Adam worked his way up the ranks to become the novice champion for the West Midlands in 2006.

But then he suffered his first health setback in June of that year when he was diagnosed with meningitis.

He now works full-time as head lad at trainer Michael Scudamore’s stables in Ross-on-Wye and goes to Cheltenham Hospital, where he was treated, for check-ups every eight weeks.

Adam said: “It’s good to be back at work and living a normal life again.

“I’m not one of those people who sits and dwells on things.

“We only get one life and should live it. It hit me quite hard at first. I wanted to get back in the saddle as quickly as possible to prove to myself that I can come back from that.

“It’s been a bit of a rough year. Even though my friends were very supportive it was one of those subjects that they didn’t quite know what to say.”

Mum Maria, who lives in Colwall, near Malvern, paid tribute to her son’s bravery and determination over the past year.

She said: “He was amazing, brilliant. It was a huge shock when Adam was diagnosed but he was just so positive right from the start. He is very positive and determined.”