Olympic cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy has given the devastating news that he will emigrate from the UK after doctors diagnosed him with terminal prostate cancer. He explained his cancer has reached stage four and he could have only between two and four years remaining.
Then, into this tragic news, Hoy added that his wife, Sarra, had been diagnosed with MS. Because of all that, they are planning to make an interim period relocation to protect the children from media concentration on them.
In fact, Hoy has given an interview to The Sunday Times to point out his ultimate fear: that his children would learn about his condition from their schoolmates before he would have a chance to explain it to them himself. He remembered the thought, “I saw your daddy on the news last night, and he’s going to die.”
Hoy and Sarra said they would take their children away for the upcoming school break to spare them from the media frenzy. He wants his children to be able to go through the news in private. “Hopefully, the dust will have settled,” Hoy added. “If things get tough, we’ll handle it together.”
While the children are aware that Hoy has cancer, they have not yet been told about Sarra’s MS, which was diagnosed in a scan just before Christmas. The day he was told the news about Sarra was, Hoy remembered, “like hitting the bottom, but then realizing you could fall even further. It was a crushing blow.
But still, he remains optimistic; he hopes to change one’s perception about stage-four cancer and to inspire other people with strength. “If we can change the narrative about stage four, then that would be really something,” he said.
It thus speaks to his character that Hoy’s courage, in the light of such challenges, would lead him to continue to look for ways to bring light into others, even at the darkest moments of his life.
