Val Kilmer credits ‘prayers’ for cancer healing

Val Kilmer has credited "prayers" for helping him overcome cancer.

The 57-year-old actor recently admitted to having won a battle with the disease despite previously denying claims he was was of ill health, and has now said he believes his faith as a Christian greatly helped in curing him of the often deadly disease.

When one fan asked him about his battle with cancer during a Q&A session on Reddit.com on Tuesday (16.05.17), Val said: "I am very grateful for all the prayers and good thoughts from around the world. People that know I am a Christian Scientist make the assumption that I have somehow endangered myself. But many many people have been healed by prayer throughout recorded history. And many many people have died by whatever was modern medicine."

The news comes after the ‘Top Gun’ actor admitted last month to having had a "healing of cancer", after having previously dubbed his friend Michael Douglas as "misinformed" when he alluded to the star’s battle with throat cancer in October last year.

In a previous session on Reddit, Val was asked by a fan: "A while ago, Michael Douglas claimed you had terminal cancer. What was the story behind that?"

To which the ‘Batman Forever’ actor said: "He was probably trying to help me because press probably asked where I was these days, and I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen although healing all the time. Because I don’t sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather."

Originally, Michael – who beat his own cancer diagnoses in 2013 – claimed Val was "dealing with exactly what [he] had", and said that things "didn’t look good".

Speaking during a Q&A with TV host Jonathan Ross at ‘An Evening with Michael Douglas’ in London, the Oscar-winning star said: "The picture didn’t turn out as well as I hoped but I had a wonderful time.

"Val was a wonderful guy who is dealing with exactly what I had, and things don’t look too good for him.

"My prayers are with him. That’s why you haven’t heard too much from Val lately."