Golfer Colin Montgomerie admitted close friend and fellow Ryder Cup star Bernard Gallacher was "very close" to death after suffering from a heart attack.
Montgomerie was speaking at the opening of the new £3 million Maggie's Cancer Support Centre at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, when he paid tribute to staff at the hospital who treated his friend.
Gallacher, 64, was in a critical condition after collapsing at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen on August 29, but is now on the road to recovery after being released from hospital just over a week ago.
Monty said: "He was at a speaking engagement when he took ill and rushed in here. They did extremely well to revive him because he was very close, so let's hope the recovery is going well for Bernard.
"And this new centre is something else to add to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
"You can have all the wealth in the world and there's a lot of that in Aberdeen with all the oil and gas - but your health is your wealth."
The new Maggie's centre was funded by the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation, which was set up by the golfer in memory of his mother, who died of cancer in 1991.
The 50-year-old said: "It's a great day for myself and my family to be associated with this and to have my mother's name attached to it.
"I think she would have liked, with all my success on the golf course, that we put something back into the community and that's exactly what we've done."
Also attending the opening was Camilla, the Duchess of Rothesay, alongside the Queen of Norway, who was representing the Norwegian architects who designed the building.
The fundraising campaign was one of the fastest in Maggie's history, with the target met inside three years.
The Aberdeen unit opens today and it means all of the major NHS cancer centres in Scotland will have a Maggie's centre on site.
Colin Welsh, Chair of Maggie's Board in Aberdeen, said: "Words can't express how thrilled and delighted I am to see Maggie's Aberdeen Cancer Centre built, kitted out, staffed, and ready for the job it was designed to do.
"I always knew that a Maggie's would make a difference to sufferers and their families in Aberdeen and the surrounding area."
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