Sir Chris Hoy has shared his hopes that a new cancer treatment could help extend his life.
The six-time Olympic cycling champion revealed the heartbreaking news he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of just 48 in October. At the time doctors gave him two to four to live after discovering he has stage 4 prostate cancer, desite having no symptoms.
But after going through his toughest year as a family - with his wife Sarra also being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - the dad-of-two is trying to remain positive and says he has been 'able to get back to living again.'
Speaking on Elizabeth Day's How To Fail podcast, he said: "I still find hope. It doesn't mean that the hope is that I'm going to survive this, because I'm not. But the hope was, and has come true, that I'm back to living again, back to enjoying each day - because none of us know what's coming in the future. We have today and that's it."
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PA)Urging people to focus on living in the now, Chris continued: "I've been able to get back to living again, which seemed so unlikely a year ago. So lean on your family, lean on your friends - focus on what you can do, focus on what you need to do as well. I think trying to let go of unnecessary stresses and worries and just focusing on the important ones and everything you can do today and there's still a lot of life left to be lived."
Expressing his hope that further treatments for his condition may be found in the future, he added: "You never know, you never know what's going to happen. There's these amazing stories all the time in different situations. My hope is that I'm hanging in there for a few more years and then something else will pop up, a new treatment, which might give me a few more years. None of us live forever so make the most of today."
Elsewhere in the podcast, he admitted that there was 'no way' he could have sat there and had this conversation six months ago 'without completely folding'. Now he's come to terms with his diagnosis, he said: "I can see a difference in myself, and I believe that's come from, first of all the support around me, but mainly because I'm choosing to appreciate the here and the now."
Speaking to the BBC in November, Chris said he was 'grateful for each day'' he continues to be here. Describing his illness as the 'biggest shock of my life', he told how the only pain he experienced was aches and pains he assumed he had got from the gym.
He said: "No symptoms, no warnings, nothing. All I had was a pain in my shoulder and a little bit of pain in my ribs. But this ache and pain didn't go away. I assumed it was going to be tendonitis or something, and it was just going to be lay off weights or lay off cycling for a wee while and get some treatment and it'll be fine."
Several scans and hospital appointments followed. And Chris was told the devastating news his cancer had spread. He now has secondary bone cancer from prostate cancer and was given the awful news that it is incurable.
Chris hopes that speaking out about his diagnosis will encourage other men to get checked before the same thing happens to them. His wife Sarra said: "I’ve been told that men seeking advice about prostate cancer is up seven fold and that Chris’s story is likely to save countless lives. This takes my breath away."
Do you have a story to share? Email me at katie.wilson01@reachplc.com
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