Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Jamie Braidwood

Sir Chris Hoy reveals cancer left him with broken back

Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he required injections in his spine as a result of his tumour spreading and fracturing his back.

The six-time Olympic cycling champion was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2023 and revealed last year that it is terminal.

Hoy has undergone treatment, including chemotherapy, but his tumour spread to his bones.

He told the Gabby Logan on the Mid Point podcast that secondary tumours in his spine had “fractured” his back, and he was told he couldn’t pick up his six-year-old daughter.

The Scot, 48, described the injections he received but said his back was “as good as new again”.

Hoy has looked to be physically active since receiving his terminal cancer diagnosis and has said he wasnt to show “many people can still have very full and happy live” while dealing with cancer.

“I had injections. They drill into your vertebrae, squirt this cement material in and it sets, fuses and makes the vertebrae as good as new again,” Hoy said.

Hoy has previously said that he feels “lucky” to be able to spend time with his family and described his outlook in the the BBC documentary ‘Sir Chris Hoy: Finding Hope’.

“I’m not saying everybody’s in the same boat but there’s hope out there,” Hoy said.

“Look at me now, six months on from finishing chemo and I’m riding my bike every day, I’m in the gym, I’m physically active, I’m not in pain. When people talk about battles with cancer, for me the biggest battle is between your ears.

(Getty Images)

“It’s the mental struggle, it’s the challenge to try and deal with these thoughts, deal with the implications of the news you’re given.

“When you hear terminal illness, terminal cancer, you just have this image in your head of what it is, what it’s going to be like.

“And everybody’s different, and not everybody is given the time that I’ve been given – and that’s why I feel lucky. We genuinely feel lucky, as crazy as that might sound, because we’ve got the time.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.