A patient decided to become a professional skydiver after having his large intestine removed.

Brian Cumming, 41, quit his office job to begin skydiving after six feet of his intestine was removed due to his hereditary condition, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

He needed to have the operation to stop his condition progressing into terminal cancer.

Mr Cumming who has completed more than 2,000 jumps and holds two skydiving records said that the surgery made him realise how fragile life is.

FAP is a condition that causes small growths, called polyps, inside the bowel which are on the inner lining on the large intestine or rectum.

Without treatment, these growths could develop into cancer.

He said: “It was a long road back but I realised life was too short not to be doing something you enjoy.

“It opened my eyes to the fact life is fragile and you never know how long you have.

“My advice to anyone, regardless of their health, is to get busy following your dreams.”

Mr Cumming waited on a register of more than 1,000 people at St Mark’s Hospital in Harrow.

The registry keeps tracks of generations of families carrying the inherited cancer condition.

He continued: “My mother had her large intestine removed as well and sat me down one day and said I may be affected by the same condition.

“I stuck my head in the sand about it but a procedure at St Mark’s confirmed I had the same polyps although they were appearing at a much slower rate.”