Chris Hoy and wife share devastating fear for children as 'treatment can only do so much'
Sir Chris Hoy has opened up about how he and his wife Sarra are feeling after being diagnosed with incurable diseases, leaving them fearful about whether they will "be around to care for our kids".
Olympic legend Sir Chris, 48, is battling terminal prostate cancer, while Sarra, 40, has an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis, a diagnosis she was informed of shortly after doctors told her husband that his disease had worsened to stage four.
In an extract from his new book, All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet, published by The Times, Chris, who is speaking to the BBC this evening in his first TV interview since his terminal cancer news, said "everything becomes unsteady" when he and his wife think about the future.
READ MORE:Tenerife tourists fuming by 'shocking' scene at airport
READ MORE:John Sweeney now as brutal crimes retold in ITV drama Until I Kill You
He wrote: "The future is a great unknown for us both now. There are moments where everything becomes unsteady and life feels too precarious, especially if we think too much about the future and the kids.
"Will we be around to care for our kids, will they be OK? Sarra’s treatment can only do so much and her condition is degenerative.
"But we find our way back from the pitfall of trying to predict the future. Sarra has found a characteristically courageous way to frame our situation, something we both come back to and feel grounded by.
"She reminds me: 'Aren’t we lucky? Lucky to both be diagnosed with conditions they have medicines and treatments for. Aren’t we lucky that science is ahead of us?'
"That’s what we choose to focus on, rather than asking why we can’t be cured," the retired athlete bravely shared.
Sir Chris has been informed he has a life expectancy of between two and four years after initially visiting the doctor for shoulder pain, assuming it was an injury from the gym.
A later diagnosis revealed prostate cancer that had metastasized to tumours in various areas of his body, including his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine, and ribs.
Sarra experienced a tingling in her face and tongue last summer, which led to her being referred for an MRI, before her latest scan confirmed she has "very active and aggressive MS".
MS is a neurological condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, where the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibres in the body, which often leads to permanent disability. MS is incurable, but treatment can make it manageable.
Sir Chris Hoy: Finding Hope airs tonight on BBC One at 8pm.
All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet is available to buy from November 7.
