Emmerdale star Tony Audenshaw has remembered his late wife and recalled her devastating cancer battle during an appearance on This Morning. The actor, who has played the ITV soap's Bob Hope for 22 years, suffered heartbreak in 2017 when wife Ruth died of pancreatic cancer aged 43.
Her tragic death came 16-months after being diagnosed with the devastating disease. The couple had been married since 1996 after meeting in an aerobics class together three years earlier. They had two children together, George and Emily.
And Tony, who is known for his charity challenges having run completed an impressive ten London Marathons, has revealed his plans to raise vital funds for pancreatic cancer research by cycling 100 miles around London.
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The 57-year-old, from Denton, appeared on the This Morning sofa to chat to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield about Ruth, his fundraising plans and the importance of early diagnosis. "She was great, she was good fun, she was easy-going," Tony said when asked about his late wife and even revealed she had a crush on Phillip.
Going on to talk about his wife's symptoms before she was diagnosed with cancer, he said: "She was a really fit person, she ran, she cycled and it was part of that that masked the symptoms in that her urine was very dark and it could have been dehydration." Tony said the doctors thought she had a urinary infection, but added her whole body started to turn yellow.
"With pancreatic cancer, over half the people die within three months of diagnosis," he said. "It’s been the case since the 70s it’s really been left behind regarding funding." Speaking of the moment they found out Ruth's diagnosis, Tony went on: "It was pretty grim. I was an optimist expecting it to be a benign tumour. But the doctor said in no uncertain terms 'it’s cancer.'"
Ruth was told the cancer couldn’t be operated on, but she got a second opinion and ended up travelling to Germany where she underwent surgery. However, despite the tumour being removed, tragically the cancer had already spread. "Part of the thing when you have surgery is you can’t have chemotherapy for a little while because it kills the good cells as well as the bad cells,” Tony revealed.
"So while it was all clinging together, some cells had got loose and it was quite devastating because it was probably two months after the operation, we found out it had spread already." So after that, the couple decided to live life "like they were retired" and make the most of the time they had left together.
Tony said: “Ruth went on her last harsh chemotherapy and there were days when she was really tired and couldn’t do much, but on the days where she felt good, she was doing stuff. She met up with friends, she carried on cycling because she loved cycling and it was a case of not being stuck in the hospital all the time or going for appointments all the time, getting out on that bike and feeling the wind on her hair.
"It was just brilliant, we did loads of stuff, we went on loads of breaks and when she was well enough, we did things." Holly replied: “I’m so sorry that you lost her in your life. She sounds like an amazing lady, that’s for sure."
