Sir Chris Hoyâs wife, Lady Sarra Hoy, has spoken candidly about her familyâs resilience in the face of immense challenges following the Olympianâs cancer diagnosis and her journey with multiple sclerosis (MS).Â
Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2023, and revealed in October 2024 that it was terminal.Â
Appearing on Mondayâs Lorraine, Lady Sarra â who lives with MS â opened up about their health struggles in her first interview as part of the ITV chat showâs March4March campaign.Â
When asked how she was coping, she responded: âReally well, thank you. Thereâs another version of my life where Iâm still unaware that something is trundling on.Â
âHere and now, Iâm really lucky. Weâve been unlucky in a very small area of our lives. The rest, we are surrounded by wonderful people.âÂ
Discussing Chrisâ strength after being diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer, Sarra said: âHeâs been used to doing hard things and dealing with pressure but at the time it didnât feel like anything similar. It felt really like everything had been stripped down.â
Lorraine said: âThe way you have [both] dealt with this horrific situation really, it has helped so many people. Does that give you a little bit of comfort do you think?âÂ
To which, Sarra replied: âI think it does and I think everyone can identify and maybe thatâs why people have picked us up into their arms quite a lot because they know what pain is and they can identify with it.â
Lady Sarra reflected on the moment when she learnt of their diagnoses, saying: âYou just donât sleep, everything is awful. It was about trying to control what I could, and I just thought, I canât do anything about cancer, I canât do anything about MS [Multiple Sclerosis], I canât control any of that. What can I do? What can I help? What can I change?âÂ
The couple, who have been married since 2010, are doting parents to two children; Chloe and Callum.Â
She continued: âWhen everything is spiralling just to stop and say, âRight now, weâre safe, the children are safe, this canât define us. We will not become the victims of this.âÂ
âWith kids you donât get a chance, thereâs no time to stop and have a day in bed, you just donât get that opportunity. So yes, the children are everything for us and our family that surrounds us are everything.â
Opening up about her own unexpected illness and how she didnât immediately tell Chris, Sarra admitted: âIt did almost feel a bit like the final straw but then equally so surreal, that it was some ways easier to deal with my diagnosis because I could just say well I have to just put that to the side right nowâŠÂ
âThe only person I wanted to tell and get support from was him [Chris]. Iâve never ever held a secret like that at all, but it was literally six weeks, when the diagnosis came, after his, and I just knew it wasnât the right time.â
Last year, in his interview with the Sunday Times, Chris spoke frankly about his diagnosis, explaining how itâs âjust part of the process.âÂ
âAs unnatural as it feels, this is nature⊠You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the processâ he said. âYou remind yourself, arenât I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.âÂ
The father-of-two added: âHand on heart, Iâm pretty positive most of the time and I have genuine happiness.Â
âThis is bigger than the Olympics. Itâs bigger than anything. This is about appreciating life and finding joy.âÂ
After Sir Chris revealed his diagnosis, the charity Prostate Scotland credited an increased awareness of the disease to the former cyclistâs âopenness,â and said there had been ârecord spikesâ in visits to its webpages.
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