Sir Chris Hoy urges others to be screened for prostate cancer
Sir Chris Hoy has bravely opened up about his harrowing cancer journey, revealing he's been battling the illness since being diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer last year. The cycling legend, who clinched six Olympic golds, is now facing a prognosis of just two to four years to live after discovering the cancer has mercilessly spread to his bones.
Taking to the sofas of ITV's This Morning, Sir Chris and his wife, Lady Sarra, shared their ordeal for the first time on Tuesday, 12 November, alongside presenters Cat Deeley and Dermot O'Leary. During the emotional segment, Sir Chris spoke candidly about how his family, including their young son and daughter, have coped since the news broke publicly in February.
The athlete recounted the persistent shoulder pain that led to the shocking diagnosis that refused to be sidelined even with his impressive athletic regime. "I had this pain in my shoulder, and it wouldn't go away. I was 47 then, still lifting weights in the gym, still physically active. You're used to having aches and pains [at that age], but this one didn't go away...," confessed Chris to the TV hosts.
He recounted the harrowing experience at the doctor's office, saying: "I went to get the scan at the doctor's surgery, and they brought the scan up and said 'there's a tumour on your shoulder, we need to find out what the root of this is' so I had multiple other scans and eventually the root of it was a prostate, and it was stage four prostate cancer which had spread to the bones. [I had] no symptoms, nothing to point to this diagnosis until the shoulder pain, so it came out of the blue."
Reflecting on his health habits, he said: "I always prided myself as someone who would go to the doctor with illness or pain.
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"As part of being an athlete, you're used to looking after your body and being quite aware of yourself, but in this case, it was too late by the time we had actually found the diagnosis," reports OK!.
Describing the devastating moment of learning his condition, Chris shared: "We were in the room, and we got the diagnosis, and I felt sick, I felt nauseous, and the room felt like it was spinning.
"I had to get up, but I couldn't sit still, and it's not the news that you can ever prepare yourself for. You can never imagine yourself in that situation and a million thoughts are running through your head. The first one was 'How on earth are we going to tell the kids?'"
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Tragically, Sarra received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis shortly after Chris's cancer diagnosis. Initially, she chose not to share the news with her husband, feeling it "wasn't the right time" to discuss her own health struggles.
Sarra stated: "It's been tough, but actually, we've been able to do it together. Once you're in it, you can cope with so much more than you think."
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.