Golf:Seve Ballesteros was in high spirits and cracking jokes when he made a rare public appearance, opening a symposium on brain tumours supported by his foundation.
The five-time major winner has been battling back to health after being diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour in 2008.
"I'm very well. Little by little and week by week I notice small improvements. I'm on the road towards normality," said Ballesteros.
Walking unaided and speaking with much greater clarity than on previous occasions, Ballesteros joined in the question and answer session and quizzed his own doctor with a big grin.
The 53-year-old Spaniard told the gathering a joke and went on to speak about his recovery programme.
"The key is to have a strong mind, to accept the situation and to beat it," he said. "I have been on a very strict diet and have done a lot of exercise. Gym work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday doing weights and stretching.
"I walk two hours a day, I sleep well, rest a lot...and I laugh. It's important to laugh a lot. Even though we are out of work and suffering with the crisis, laughing doesn't cost anything."
Doctor Cristobal Belda, who operated on Ballesteros two years ago, praised his patient's attitude.
"Seve is well enough and recovering," he said. "The work he is doing isn't something for a few days or months. It's an enormous effort.
"It is a physical and psychological rehabilitation."
Ballesteros was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of two golf balls after collapsing in the Spanish capital in 2008 and needed four operations before beginning a course of chemotherapy.