BRAVE Sir Chris Hoy endured the “worst pain” of his life wearing a cold cap during his cancer treatment so he wouldn’t lose his hair.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist, 48, announced yesterday he has just four years to live.
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He kept his terminal diagnosis a secret for a year and has described how his world “fell apart in one sentence”.
Sir Chris is currently in Copenhagen covering the World Track Cycling Championships for the BBC – and will be on TV this afternoon.
The dad-of-two began chemo in November last year and recalled how 10-year-old son Callum kept asking if he’d lose his hair.
Sir Chris told the Sunday Times the cold cap was “like your head being in a vice”, but he kept it on during all six rounds over 18 weeks.
He said that it was the worst pain he’s ever experienced, adding while grinning sheepishly: “And I’ve got a very high pain threshold.”
Sir Chris and Sarra decided to be open with their children and told them about the cancer during dinner one night, to which Callum asked: “Are you going to die?”
The former Olympian explained the medication would hopefully mean he would “be here for many, many years”.
Sir Chris had said in February he was being “treated for cancer” and claimed it was going well – though knew in reality it was just “management”.
And despite his terminal diagnosis, the Team GB legend has continued his media duties, including covering the Paris Olympics for the Beeb over the summer.
Today he has posted a photo alongside some of the broadcasting team from the Ballerup Super Arena and said it’s “great to be out”.
He told fans: “You may see in the news this weekend some articles about my health, so I just wanted to reassure you all that I’m feeling fit, strong and positive, and overwhelmed by all the love and support shown to my family and me.”
The shock news also comes weeks after the dad-of-two revealed his wife Sarra was diagnosed with incurable and degenerative multiple sclerosis.
The couple have chosen not tell their children Callum and Chloe, seven.
Sir Chris and Sarra have chosen low-risk but less effective treatments for Sarra’s MS.
On some days Sarra struggles to fit in the key in the door, Sir Chris said.
The couple have not yet told their two children about Sarra’s MS diagnosis.
How Chris Hoy went from lad on £5 bike inspired by ET to 6-time Olympic champion
By Jonathan Rose
SIR Chris Hoy began cycling at the age of six after he was inspired by the 1982 film ET.
Before he moved on to track cycling, he rode a BMX bike until the age of 15.
Sir Chris was ranked second in Britain, fifth in Europe and ninth in the World.
His dad picked up a £5 bike from a jumble sale – four years later Sir Chris was competing in the semi-final of a BMX world championship race.
“I was six when I saw ET,” he told The Guardian in 2020. “It changed my life. I wasn’t interested in cycling at all before.”
“The bikes I’d seen in Edinburgh just seemed functional things for getting from A to B,” continued Hoy, who grew up in Murrayfield.
“Then I saw those BMX bikes on screen and I was hooked. It wasn’t the scene where they cycle across the sky, but when they get chased by the police and they’re doing jumps and skidding round corners.
“It was the most exciting thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to do that.”
Four years later he became part of the British national squad.
A world championship medal came in 1999 with silver in the team sprint.
Sir Chris went on to become the second most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time.
Sir Chris has also now written a heartbreaking memoir detailing his experience of terminal cancer.
He said recording the audio version of his memoir is the hardest thing he has ever done.
The book ends with Sir Chris’s message to his children – which he said will be the words they listen to when he is gone.
DIAGNOSIS
The star had gone to the doctor in September last year after feeling a strain in his shoulder.
A tumour was found in his shoulder – before a second scan found the primary cancer in his prostate.
The prostate cancer had metastasised to Sir Chris’s bones – including his shoulder, pelvis, ribs, and spine.
Sir Chris recounted how he told his children that no-one lives for ever but he hopes to “be here for many, many more years”.
He began chemotherapy in November.
The sportsman suffered a violent allergic reaction in gruelling chemo sessions – but only missed five days of training on a bike.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
- needing to pee more frequently, often during the night
- needing to rush to the toilet
- difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
- straining or taking a long time while peeing
- weak flow
- feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
- blood in urine or blood in semen
Source: NHS
Well-wishes for the BBC pundit have poured in since his health announcement.
Sir Mark Cavendish, who holds the record for most stages won in the Tour de France, hailed Sir Chris as a “hero of a human being”.
Amy Joy Williams, MBE, the British former skeleton racer and Olympic gold medallist, added: “A pure superhuman who everyone loves. x”
And, Paddy McGuinness shared: “Some man”, as Dame Kelly Holmes wrote: “Sending love to you Chris.” While comedian Jack Whitehall penned: “Sending you all the love mate.”
All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet by Sir Chris Hoy is published on November 7.
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