Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy, 48, conveyed the heart-wrenching announcement that his battle with cancer has now been deemed terminal, while also disclosing that his wife Sarra, 40, faces a fierce fight with an aggressive strain of Multiple Sclerosis.
The iconic former track cyclist confided that his “worst fear” amid this sorrowful revelation is the prospect of his children learning about his condition at school from their classmates.
In an emotional discourse with The Sunday Times, Sir Chris voiced his concerns that either of his children may be told: “I saw your daddy on the news last night and he’s going to die.”
To shield their family from the ensuing media storm, Sir Chris and his wife have chosen to whisk their children away on a two-week half-term getaway, nurturing the hope that the media focus will diminish by the time they return.
“Hopefully the dust will have settled” expressed Sir Chris, candidly articulating his trepidation: “You know what? It may happen. If it does, we will deal with it.”
Amidst the turmoil of Hoy’s illness, they took the step of informing their children about his cancer diagnosis but have yet to reveal anything concerning Sarra’s MS condition to their young son and daughter.
Chris further illuminated his familys predicament in an excerpt from his forthcoming book, All That Matters, provided to The Times: “Another scan just before Christmas confirmed that Sarra had ‘very active and aggressive’ MS and needed urgent treatment.
“It’s the closest I’ve come to, like, you know, why me? Just, what? What’s going on here? It didn’t seem real. It was such a huge blow, when you’re already reeling.
“You think nothing could possibly get worse. You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.”
Despite facing a period filled with fear and uncertainty, the retired sportsman is hopeful of raising awareness and “change the perception of stage 4 cancer”.
Sir Chris has been given a life expectancy of between two and four years. He initially sought medical advice for a shoulder pain he assumed was a gym injury, only to be diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and ribs.
