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Inspirational: Teenager beats cancer and doubles in size to become burly bodybuilder

Health & Science

USA: Survivor Zach Zeiler, 20, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2010, at the age of 15 - and saw his weight plummet to just seven stone.

But as his inspiring collage of selfies and family photos show, Zach beat cancer and now tips the scales at nearly 13 stone - almost double his lowest weight.

His gain and impressive new physique are the result of working out for two hours, seven days a week - a regime he began during treatment.

Social media star Zach has a huge following online - his YouTube account has notched up over 11 million views and he has over 68,000 fans on Facebook.

Zach, from Ida, Michigan, said: "I started lifting after my radiation treatments because I knew it would help me gain weight and look less sickly.

"It was a great way to channel a lot of the anger I felt - and I got addicted to it, it became my passion."

Zach was diagnosed with stage 1B Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which is fatal if detected in the later stages.

His 1B stage diagnosis meant that he showed alternative symptoms, such as drenching night sweats, that indicated the disease was advancing.

Doctors immediately put him into aggressive chemo and radiation therapies.

Zach's mum, Joanna Zeiler, 48, said: "One day Zach was laying down in my room. I passed by and he said to me, 'mom I'm sorry I soaked your bed.'

"He was covered in sweat from head to toe.

"I was noticing more and more that he would come home drained, which was unlike him because he was very athletic.

"My father passed away from Hodgkin's as well, so we started seeing the same symptoms in Zach and suspecting he had it too."

Zach's diagnosis came as a shock to his family - who knew him as an athletic, healthy teenager.

He said: "It was the first time I ever saw my father cry.

"Everyone was upset - I was the only one who was calm for the most part."

Zach's girlfriend, Tara Hurley, 21, was also distraught upon hearing about his illness.

Joanna, a children's day care worker, said: "I'll never forget the look in her eyes when we drove to her house and told her diagnosis.

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