Ex-soldier's life saved by Taliban bullet that revealed deadly tumour

Father-of-two Karl Mowatt, 28, was injured in 2006 in Afghanistan and flown back to the UK for surgery, when the tumour on his kidney was noticed. Medics then waited for him to recover from his wound before tackling the tumour.

The ex-Para is now due to fight a kickboxing bout – the Closed Combat Arena Championships for the Northern middleweight title – after being given the all-clear from his cancer in March.

He said: "I feel so lucky. if I hadn't been shot they never would have spotted it. There is no doubt I would have been dead in my 30s – they said it was very aggressive.

"Not only was I shot but I was shot in the same place that I had the tumour."

Mr Mowatt, from Huddersfield, who has previous tours in Iraq and Kosovo under his belt, said: "They sorted out my injury but they didn't operate on the cancer until I had fully recovered from my war wounds, some time in 2007. Luckily I only lost part of the kidney, but they had got it in time.

"I had a bad time after that, I was medically discharged from the Army in 2007 and began to suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – which I still suffer from now.

"But look at me now, if that bullet hadn't gone into my kidney, they wouldn't have found the cancer and I could be dead – I was only given the all-clear in March.

"Now I'm a full time voluntary martial arts instructor and about to have my first fight."

Natalie Robinson, 34, who works at the Colne Valley Black Belt Academy and has supported Mr Mowatt since he began training in 2008, said: "You can see such a big change in him, the support he has got here has been such a massive help to him."