Chris Hoy & wife Sarra didn’t tell kids about her incurable MS after dad’s terminal cancer as family face double tragedy

2 months ago 11

SIR CHRIS Hoy and his brave wife Sarra have decided not to tell their kids about her incurable MS as the family face a double tragedy.

The strong couple already had to break it to youngsters Callum and Chloe, 10 and seven, that their hero dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

a family posing for a picture with a man wearing a watch

Hoy with wife Sarra and kids Callum and Chloe in 2018[/caption]

a man on a bike with the word britain on his uniform

a man and woman are posing for a picture in front of a wall that says boss

Chris Hoy and wife Sarra attend the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2021[/caption]

a woman holding a gold medal with the year 2012 on it

Hoy and Sarra after he won the team sprint final on day six of the London 2012 Olympic Games[/caption]

Six-time Olympic gold medallist Hoy, 48, described the dinner conversation at the start of the year as the “hardest thing I’ve ever done“.

And in an attempt to shield their children, Hoy and Sarra are keeping her health battles to themselves.

Sarra is undergoing low-risk, less effective treatments for her condition instead of more potentially effective, but riskier, new treatments, it is reported.

Within the space of three months, the Hoy family were dealt two shocking blows.

In September 2023, a doctor delivered the awful news to Hoy that he had Stage 4 cancer.

What was first diagnosed as a tumour in his shoulder, the primary cancer was located in his prostate.

It had then unfortunately spread to his bones, pelvis, hip, spine, shoulder and rib.

Medics have given Hoy two to four years to live.

The 40-year-old mum-of-two was then diagnosed with a “very reactive and aggressive” type of MS just before Christmas that same year.

Sarra’s condition was spotted when she went for a scan after experiencing a tingling sensation in her face and tongue.

Now, some days are worse than others – with Sarra struggling to fit the key in the door at times.

Hoy recalled telling his children that no one lives forever but he hopes to “be here for many, many more years”.

And recording the audio version of his memoir, ‘All that Matters: My Toughest Race Yet’, was even more traumatic, he told BBC.

He said: “The last chapter is basically where I’m writing to the kids. You know my message to them. You know, my final message to them.

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

“[You’re] reading the words out loud, you have to connect emotionally.

“You’ve got to actually read in a way that means something. But the risk is getting too close to it – because you’re suddenly thinking, these are the words that my kids will listen to when I’m gone.

“And that is, without doubt, the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Hoy began chemotherapy in November, wearing an extremely painful cold cap to keep his hair.

The sportsman suffered a violent allergic reaction in gruelling chemo sessions – but only missed five days of training on a bike.

A pure superhuman who everyone loves

Amy Joy Williams, MBEOlympic Gold Medallist

He took to Instagram on Sunday to reassure fans he is still “feeling fit, strong and positive” despite the diagnosis.

Hoy shared a snap of himself in Copenhagen for the World Track Cycling Championships and said it was “great to be out”.

“Some truly incredible performances; world records and a new generation of future stars showing us what they can do,” he wrote.

“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. Onwards!”

Messages of support

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.”

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.”

One in eight men will get prostate cancer

The risk of developing prostate cancer depends on many factors, here are some of the facts about the disease and how many men it affects.

One in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime
It is the fourth most common cancer worldwide, and the most common in men
There are 55,000 new cases every year in the UK, and 1.4million globally
Around 12,000 people lose their lives to prostate cancer annually in the UK and almost 400,000 around the world
Prostate cancer accounts for 28 per cent of all new cancer cases in men in the UK, and 14 per cent of all new cancer cases in men and women combined
Prostate cancer survival has tripled in the last 50 years in the UK
More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of patients survive for 10 or more years
About 490,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in the UK
It is most common in men aged 75 to 79
Since the early 1990s, cases have increased by 53 per cent in the UK
Mortality rates are up 16 per cent since the early 1970s in the UK
Incidence rates are projected to rise by 15 per cent in the UK between 2023 to 2025 and 2038 to 2040
Mortality rates are expected to fall five per cent in the UK over the same years