A MONKTON Heathfield pensioner told he was dying of cancer in 2000 has defied his doctors' opinion and found a cure with help from the internet.

Eric Saffin, 75, prepared himself and his family for the worst after a specialist at Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital told him nothing could be done to cure him following the removal of a cancerous cyst below his eye.

But now, almost four years and six operations later, Mr Saffin, who was previously successfully treated for cancer of the colon, is hopeful his next tests will show he is clear of the disease.

After he received the devastating news he was dying, Mr Saffin and his wife, Sonja, shed a few tears.

"But we soon decided sitting and crying was wasting valuable time," he said. "We decided we would let life carry on as normal and make the most of what time there was."

His son, Mike, encouraged him to be positive -- Mr Saffin said: "He urged me to fight it with everything and anything, and reminded me that I had done it once and there was no reason why I couldn't do it again."

But, despite four weeks of aggressive radiotherapy treatment in Bristol, he took matters into his own hands as his tumour continued to grow.

He made little progress after contacting specialists and organisations before resorting to the internet, where he discovered more than 340,000 leads on oncology.

After hitting on a website about a charity helping people with facial disfigurements, Mr Saffin overheard an item on TV about pioneering facial cancer treatment by surgeon Colin Hopper.

After exhaustive efforts, he finally tracked down Mr Hopper to a clinic in London, where, following a consultation, he was offered a nuclear scan before undergoing surgery.

The surgeon removed the left half of Mr Saffin's face, gave him a facelift and built a new eyelid with skin from behind his ear.

He has returned to London for a total of six operations, the latest earlier this month, but now hopes surgery is complete.

"If I hadn't made the effort, I'd probably be dead now," said Mr Saffin, whose experience inspired him to join the SURE appeal for a new cancer treatment centre at Musgrove.