A FINAL year university student has bared almost all to help raise awareness of World Cancer Day.

Ross Torode stripped off his top to show off the scar he received while having major surgery to treat his cancer.

The 21-year-old, who studies at the University of Brighton, was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was 16.

He is backing World Cancer Day today, which is supporting Cancer Research UK, Breast Cancer Care, Anthony Nolan and the Movember Foundation.

Supporters can buy special unity bands to help raise vital funds for the charities.

Before his diagnosis Ross was very active and enjoyed skateboarding, climbing and surfing in his spare time.

He said: “I was in GSCE year, coming up to exams when I started feeling ill around December.

“The doctors initially thought it was just glandular fever. I carried on doing my thing, just trying to take it a bit more easy than normal.”

His health deteriorated while on a snowboarding trip to Switzerland so he went for more tests when he returned.

It was at this point he was given a diagnosis of leukaemia.

Ross said: “I started to panic, I didn’t know anything about leukaemia. I’d only ever heard about cancer in relation to people dying. I didn’t know what to think.”

Further checks revealed the cancer had spread and Ross’s glands were so enlarged his lungs had collapsed.

He spent two weeks in intensive care and then began two bouts of chemotherapy, both of which failed.

The treatment damaged Ross’s digestive system, merging his stomach with his large intestine and he needed major surgery to repair it.

Ross was told he needed a bone marrow transplant but none of his family were a match so his last hope was to find a match on the Anthony Nolan register.

He said: “Looking back, it was a life or death moment for me but at the time I never even considered that.”

Fortunately a suitable matching donor was found later that year and Ross had his transplant in October 2010.

Since then he has gone from strength to strength and is now studying to be a primary school teacher.

He is a volunteer for Marrow, a student group that supports Anthony Nolan by signing people up to the register, and has also taken on a fundraising bike ride challenge for the charity.

Ross said: “It feels great to be able to give something back.

“I know I can no longer donate my bone marrow but I sure can help to get the message out that everyday people can sign up.

“If they’re a match then they could save a life.”

For more information, visit worldcancerday.co.uk.