Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he feels ‘fit and ‘strong’ and has a ‘sense of purpose’ after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
The six-time Olympic cycling champion was diagnosed last year and announced last month that the disease is terminal.
The 48-year-old has been undergoing chemotherapy and prioritizing time with his wife Sarra Kemp and their two children, Callum, nine, and Chloe, six.
Sir Chris admitted he was ‘in a bad way for a while’ but has since ‘found ways to be positive.’
‘A year on, I genuinely feel as though I’ve made that progress. I’ve kind of got through the difficult six months,’ he said on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio UK on Friday.
Sir Chris Hoy, 48, has revealed he feels ‘fit and strong’ a year after his cancer diagnosis
The Olympic cycling champion was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer last year (pictured undergoing chemotherapy)
Sir Chris went on: ‘We’ve accepted what’s happened and we’ve moved on and it’s, you know, it’s a stage four diagnosis, so it’s with me for the rest of my life.
‘But do you know what? None of us live forever. So you’ve got to crack on and you find ways to be positive, to hope, to have hope.
‘I was in a bad way for a while, but with the support of Sarra, my wife, and, you know, really good friends and family around me, you get through it and you can get through it.’
Sir Chris has been trying to promote awareness of early cancer detection and is urging fans to get a PSA test at their GP.
The former cyclist said: ‘This is a purpose and a drive that I’ve not felt since I was aiming for Olympic gold.
‘You feel lucky to have had that one focus in your life. Your one purpose and you accept in sport it lasts so long and that’s it, that’s your window and then the rest of your life.
‘I wasn’t trying to chase that feeling, I accept that, nothing’s going to be quite the same as that – but there’s loads of exciting things to do in life and to pursue and roles to play.’
He added: ‘But this is like nothing else. It’s beyond Olympics, that’s for sure. I’m feeling fit and strong. I’ve got a whole new purpose now.
He credited his wife Sarra (pictured in 2020) with ‘supporting’ him and admitted he was ‘in a bad way for a while’
Sir Chris recalled about his ‘absolute shock and horror’ in a BBC interview last week as doctors told him the ‘nightmare’ diagnosis
Sir Chris revealed in February he was being treated for cancer and has since said the disease is now incurable and has spread to his bones, with tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine, and rib.
Earlier this month, he appeared on BBC Breakfast News and shared his ‘absolute shock and horror’ as doctors told him the ‘nightmare’ diagnosis.
The athlete also discussed his wife Sarra having multiple sclerosis and how the couple broke the news to their young kids.
Sir Chris said: ‘That was the first thought in my head. How on Earth are we going to tell the kids? It’s just this absolute horror, it is a waking nightmare, living nightmare.
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‘We just tried to be positive and tried to say do you know what, this is what we’re doing and you can help because when I’m not feeling well, you can come and give me cuddles, you can be supportive, you can be happy, you can be kind to each other.
‘I’m sure lots of families do it in different ways and I think there’s no one right approach for anyone. There’s no one-size-fits-all, but for us I think that was the best way to do it.’
He recalled having ‘no symptoms’ before his diagnosis
Recalling how he had suffered ‘no symptoms, no warning, nothing’ before his diagnosis, he said: ‘It’s logical to me – why wouldn’t you get the test a little bit earlier?’
‘Catch it before you need to have any major treatment, to me it seems like a no brainer.
‘Why would you not reduce the age [and] allow more men to just go in and get a blood test.’
Sir Chris added that chemotherapy ‘was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced and gone through’ when he was ‘still reeling from the diagnosis’.
The Daily Mail have relaunched our End Needless Prostate Deaths campaign in a bid to improve diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
A recent NHS National Cancer Patient Experience Survey has suggested that men are being diagnosed late and suffering avoidable deaths because they have to fight to be taken seriously by doctors.
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with The National Lottery airs on Virgin Radio UK.
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