Before people started pitying him too much, Patrick Swayze appeared before reporters looking fresh and smiling, to the excitement of his fans.

When he was photographed over the weekend at Los Angeles Airport, he proved everyone that he was stronger that the disease. Besides the fact that he looked much better, he also seemed optimistic.

“I’m a miracle dude ... I don’t know why,” he told photographers and fans on Sunday afternoon, according to People magazine.

After the 55-year-old actor was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, rumors spread that he had only a few months to live. On average, patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have only a one-in-20 chance of being alive five years after cancer is discovered, reports the National Cancer Institute. But it seems Swayze is among the lucky ones. And also energetic enough to work.

At the airport, he told the crowd that he was flying to Chicago, where he is filming for the A&E TV series, “The Beast.” In the series, Swayze plays the role of an eccentric veteran FBI agent, Charles Barker, who has to teach his rookie partner his investigative methods.

Swayze had shot the pilot for the series in December 2007, but it became uncertain whether he would still play his role after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Swayze’s enthusiasm for the role was probably one of the factors that helped him recover so quickly in these past months. He said in a statement that he had been searching for a long time for a such a role like this and he was excited he would have to play “a character that is this multi-layered, unpredictable and downright entertaining.” He also described the project as “current and cutting edged.”