'Sir Chris Hoy saved my life after I watched his BBC News interview'
Sir Chris Hoy made the saddening announcement last October that his cancer had become terminal, but now one man has revealed how the Olympian has saved his life
A man has revealed how an interview with Sir Chris Hoy on BBC News saved his life
(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
A man claims watching an interview with Sir Chris Hoy made him realise he might have prostate cancer, potentially saving his life.
Britain's second-most decorated Olympian was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2023 after complaining of a pain in his shoulder, going public with the diagnosis in a BBC interview the following February. In October last year he announced the disease was terminal as it had spread to his bones and had progressed to stage 4, adding that doctors have given him between two and hour years
After receiving the heart-breaking news that it was terminal, he told the Times that doctors had told him that he has between two to fours years to live.
While his condition was met with an outpouring of support from fellow Olympians, celebrities and the British public, the news had an even greater impact on Patrick Hughes from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.
He revealed that his cancer was terminal last October
(Image: Getty Images for Laureus)
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the 57-year-old recalled watching an interview with Sir Chris, on BBC News: "When I heard Sir Chris Hoy say that his only initial symptoms of prostate cancer were pain in his shoulder and ribs, I realised I needed to check my risk of the disease. He was speaking on television last November, shortly after announcing that his prostate cancer diagnosis was terminal."
He added: "Until that point, I'd never seriously considered being at risk of prostate cancer, despite my dad tragically dying of the disease in 2021.
"But when Sir Chris told BBC News that his shoulder pain was actually a tumour, that's when my mindset completely changed - and just months later, I was diagnosed with the disease myself."
Sir Chris won his first Olympic gold medal in 2004
(Image: PA)
After being prompted to go and get checked for the condition, multiple tests later confirmed that he too was suffering from the prostate cancer.
Thankfully it had been caught early enough for him to be treated, with him taking the gruelling decision of picking between hormone therapy and radiotherapy or having his prostate removed. Saying that the choice was easy, he opted for having an operation to remove his prostate entirely.
Sir Chris has won six Olympic gold medals
(Image: Getty Images)
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Prostate cancer is believed to be the most common among men in the UK, with approximately one in eight men diagnosed with the condition in their lifetimes, according to the charity Prostate Cancer UK.
According to the NHS, the condition usually doesn't cause any symptoms until the cancer has grown large enough to impact the tube that takes urine from the bladder out of the penis.
They have said that some symptoms of the condition can include "needing to pee more frequently, often during the night, needing to rush to the toilet and difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)".
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