Sir Chris Hoy reveals he has terminal cancer as GB Olympic icon gives heartbreaking update! B
Sir Chris Hoy has revealed how long he has been given to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
British cycling hero Sir Chris Hoy has revealed that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has between two to four years to live. In February, the six-time Olympic gold medallist shared news of his illness. However, in a heartbreaking update, he has now admitted it is incurable.
Earlier this year, Hoy wrote on his Instagram account that he was shocked to learn he had cancer after showing no symptoms.
The 48-year-old added that his treatment, including chemotherapy, was going “really well” and that he was “optimistic and positive.”
But, in an interview with The Times, he has shared details of his cancer diagnosis late last September, when he learned it was terminal.
Hoy claimed he thought he was “just getting a bit old for lifting heavy weights” when he believed he had suffered a strained shoulder.
After being referred to the hospital by his physiotherapist for a scan, the Scotsman expected he would simply be advised to avoid upper-body workouts in the gym for the time being.
However, he remembered watching the nurse grow teary-eyed as the doctor informed him: “I’m really sorry. There’s a tumour in your shoulder.”
It wasn’t until two days later when, along with his wife, Sarra, he was hit with even worse news. Stage four cancer found in his prostate had metastasised to his bones.
A second scan also discovered tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib. At this point, Hoy revealed he “learned how I will die.”
Sir Chris Hoy is a six-time Olympic gold medallist. (Image: Getty)
Hoy recalls crouching on the floor, sickened by the revelation, as a consultant surgeon ran through what was described as management rather than treatment.
He has opened up on his and Sarra’s affliction as they skewed over how they would tell their children, Callum and Chloe, then nine and six.
They gently broke the gut-wrenching news during dinner. Callum is said to have been full of questions. The most hard-hitting: “Are you going to die?”
Hoy turned to a cold cap during chemotherapy in an attempt to keep his illness private and for the sake of his son, who had asked whether he would lose his hair.
Worn during six rounds over 18 weeks, he claims it involved the most pain he had ever battled, a test of his “very high pain threshold.”
Hoy mentioned one chemotherapy session that “broke” him after a nightmare allergic reaction extended the length from two hours to four. That particular dark memory makes him feel like a “wimp.”
The 11-time world champion went public in February. He has now shared that the decision was due to a friend telling Sarra a journalist had asked them whether his condition was terminal.
That statement, which felt like a “pressure release,” wasn’t the whole story. Now, the whole story is out.
Howe has pledged his time and energy to his family, but also to creating an annual ‘Tour de 4’ – an annual bike ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh for those affected by cancer.
He wants to show the world that “stage four’s not just, ‘right, this is the end of your life’. There’s more to be lived.”
