Seve Ballesteros

Ballesteros, 54, has been battling brain cancer since October 2008when he was admitted to hospital in Madrid after collapsing at the airport. He was diagnosed with a tumour and under went immediate, 12-hour surgery to remove part of the tissue. He returned to theatre later that month submitting to a total of four operations to clear the remainder of the tumour.
Ballesteros spent two months in hospital before being discharged to begin chemotherapy treatment at his home in northern Spain. Though Ballesteros's health improved it was accepted that the treatment was not a cure, only a means to prolong life.
It became clear towards the end of last year when he was unable to attend a charity dinner in London in honour of his own Seve Ballesteros Foundation, that concern over his well being was growing. Today's announcement confirms the gravity of his condition.
Though the comment was brief the inference was that the five time major-champion, one of the greatest players of all time, is battling through the final days of his life. “The family will provide information on his state of health when more news becomes available,” the statement read.

The development will cast a shadow over the Spanish Open being played in Barcelona this weekend. The emergence of Ballesteros in the Seventies lifted the sport to a new level in his own country and across Europe, sowing the seeds for an expansion of the European Tour unimaginable before his arrival.

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