The doctors were stumped. There was no medical explanation for what happened. How could a brain tumor shrink without treatment?
But there it was: Retired American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, 58, found out in his latest check-up last month that the tumor in his brain—his third in the same part of his body—had shrunk, People magazine reported last week.
"The nature of them [tumors] is to grow, and without treatment, they have no reason to shrink," the Olympic gold medalist said. "So I was the recipient of a spectacular miracle. I'm keeping an eye on it, and there's no treatment needed at this time."
Hamilton previously beat testicular cancer in 1997 and two similar benign tumors in his brain in 2004 and 2010 before he was diagnosed with a third pituitary tumor in August 2016.
Hamilton asked his doctors what happened. Unable to provide a medical explanation, the surgeon who would have operated on him answered with just one word: "God."
Hamilton was absolutely but pleasantly shocked upon hearing what his doctors said. "The doctors basically said, 'Whatever you're doing, keep doing it,' " Hamilton said.
Last year, Faithwire reported that Hamilton was using the power of prayer to help him overcome his series of ailments.
"I have a unique hobby of collecting life-threatening illness," Hamilton told People magazine in October 2016.
When his wife Tracie found out about his third brain tumor, Hamilton said the first thing she did was grab both of his hands and start to pray.
The former Olympian said what his wife did was something he could never forget because her prayer was so "powerful" that "it changed everything for me."
He said he relies on his Christian faith in everything he does and whatever life gives him.
"I've been blessed beyond my wildest imagination," he said.
When he was first diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010, Hamilton recalled what he told wife, "God doesn't owe me a day. I'm good. Whatever's next is next."
"The blessings keep coming because we allow them as we ask for them," he said.
