A British man who was told he was only left with one year to live spent his remaining time in style, quitting his job and spending his savings on hotels, restaurants and holidays only to later discover that he wasn't dying.

John Brandrick, who was told by doctors he had fatal pancreatic cancer, is now asking the courts to compensate him for the misdiagnoses. The Times of London quotes him as saying, "I am seeking compensation for what we have lost and to help everyone out at Treliske (Hospital) so they don't have to go through what I did."

"All I would say to these people is to knock on the door and ask for a second opinion," he added.

The 61-year-old now says that though he doesn't have any intentions of taking the hospital to court but feels "they should pay me something back."

"Whilst we do sympathize with Mr. Brandrick's position, clinical review of his case has not revealed that any different diagnosis would have been made at the time based on the same evidence," the newspaper quotes the hospital statement as saying.