A dad-of-two & ex soldier is “praying for a miracle” after being given just months to live.

Phil Cox has spent the last 16 months battling aggressive tumours which are rapidly growing throughout his body.

To add to his ordeal, he recently received the devastating diagnosis of Leptomeningeal Disease - an incurable complication of cancer which spreads to the brain and spinal cord.

The 36-year-old, who lives in Billingham with his wife Kerri, 41, their son Joe, four, and Phil’s step-daughter Keira, 10, has been told he could have less than a year - or as little as a few months - left to live.