A Bristol Rovers fan who had an operation to remove a brain tumour has presented the hospital staff who saved his life with a cheque to say thanks.

Robin Schols, 47, collapsed in January while he was working at a factory in Yate.

Mr Schols, who used to be a member of the Bristol Rovers supporters’ committee and ran the supporters’ website, said: “I was just clocking off from work when it happened.

“A couple of  days before I had been to the doctor and asked for tests because I had been having bad headaches.

“I was keen on playing golf, and it got to the stage that I would reach 12 holes and then go home as I was so tired.”

Then 46, he was taken to Frenchay Hospital, where staff found he had a benign brain tumour. Five days later he had it removed.

Mr Schols, a Rovers season ticket holder who commentates on home games for hospital radio, said: “It was touch and go for a while after the scan.

“I didn’t consider myself to be a middle-aged guy with cancer, but a young man just with something wrong – that was what I was telling myself.

“I told one friend that I probably wasn’t going to be at Rovers for a while and the reason why.

“The next thing I knew about 70 or 80 people had joined a website to find out how I was doing.

“I was really touched about it 

all.

“The whole thing that kept me going was the support of my family and my friends at Bristol Rovers.

“The fans, players and directors sent me cards, and even Bristol City fans sent me their best.

“What was really nice is that my friends all got together and asked if they could play a match at the Memorial Stadium, as they wanted to raise money to send me on a holiday when I got better.

“The club gave them use of the stadium and kit, and we played the game, but I asked for the money  to be given to the hospital instead – I couldn’t use it for a holiday.”

Mr Schols was also invited by Rovers manager Paul Trollope to train with the first team.

He said: “It was a real honour and a privilege that my friends rallied around as they did and a professional football club got together to help me out at that time.”

Mr Schols, who now lives in Westbury, Wiltshire, with his partner Judy, said: “The whole thing was a terrible experience but it was also a great experience because it made me come to realise how many people cared about me.

“All that my friends did, and the club allowing a benefit match to be played for me, it was not lost on me.”

During half-time at Saturday’s match between Rovers and Gillingham, he gave Frenchay Hospital’s neurosurgery department a cheque for £850.

He said: “Professor Stephen Gill, my specialist, and Nick Park, who did the operation, and all the staff in ward one were fantastic and really looked after me, and I just want to say thank you to them for all they have done for me.”