A CANCER survivor says he’s had the last laugh — by becoming a stand-up comedian.
Aiden Cowie, 25, revealed cracking jokes helped him cope after he lost his right eye and part of his face to a rare form of the disease.
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And he even makes fun of his ordeal in his stage routine, which has won him an army of fans and seen him tipped as a star of the future.
Aiden, of Aberdeen, said: “I feel very lucky. Just surviving was a huge victory.
“For all this to happen too is just incredible.”
His nightmare began six years ago when he couldn’t get rid of what he thought was a heavy cold.
Docs discovered he was battling a sarcoma in his sinus cavity that was wrapped round his eye, close to his brain.
They said he would need risky surgery — but warned it might not get rid of all the cancer.
Aiden recalled: “I said goodbye to my friends and family because I thought it would be my last few weeks alive.”
He was just 19 when he underwent three operations that took around 32 hours.
Six months later he decided that it was time to follow his dream and be a stand-up.
Aiden’s first set at the Breakneck Comedy Club in his home city went down a storm. He now does gigs across the UK — and has been cancer-free for six years.
He said: “It was something I had always wanted to try.
“A lot of what got me through my cancer and treatment was making jokes with my family and the nurses. Having a laugh about it was the only way I could cope.”
One of his jokes is that he wanted to be a teacher — but kept losing his pupils. Another is that Aiden is spelt with one I.
Naz Hussain, who runs the Breakneck venue, said: “He could potentially win Britain’s Got Talent. Aiden deserves to become a star.”
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