Olympian Scott Hamilton leaning on God, sees 3rd brain tumour shrink

Gold-medal Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton is sharing a powerful miracle story after being diagnosed with a third brain tumour. 

Hamilton has had a long journey with cancer, dating back to his first diagnosis of testicular cancer in 1997. Hamilton underwent surgery and chemotherapy to beat this initial diagnosis. Then in 2004, Hamilton was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. It would be the first of many as he was diagnosed with another brain tumour in 2006 and again in 2016.

"You know this brain tumour that keeps coming back – Craniopharyngioma – you're born with. But this journey has been miraculous. When they diagnosed me they gave me all of the different ways that I could deal with this tumour, through these actions, and prayer and exercise," Hamilton shared with CBN in 2018.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine, Hamilton shared how he reacted to the news of a third tumour. 

"When they gave me the diagnosis, they said, it's back. And so they brought in this guy, a really young, talented surgeon, and he said, 'We could do the surgery again. It'd be complicated, but we've got really talented people here that we could bring in, and I know we could pull it off if that's an option for you.'"

In that moment Hamilton shared that he felt the Holy Spirit prompt him with these simple words, "just go home and get strong." That's what he did. 

"I went back to the scan three months later and they said, it hasn't grown. I go back three months later and they go, it shrank 45 per cent. I said to my surgeon, 'Can you explain this?' And he said, 'God.' I went back in, and it shrunk 25 per cent again."

During COVID the tumour grew a little more but Hamilton shares that he isn't worried and continues to pray, giving his worries to God. 

"The veil between us and the Lord is thinnest when we're in our suffering. God is most – more present in our lives in our deepest suffering. We're here by His grace and mercy. Our bodies are fragile but resilient. Temporary. Temporary! So we live our days joyfully. We live our days hopefully. We live our days faithfully!"