Chris Hoy’s wife Sarra opens up about Olympic star's terminal cancer diagnosis as she declares 'everything is awful'

17 March 2025, 11:41

Sir Chris Hoy’s wife has opened up about the Team GB icon’s battle with terminal cancer and the way her health has suffered in recent years.

The six-time Olympic champion, who was given between two and four years to live in 2023, revealed to supporters he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer last year.

Following Sir Chris’ diagnosis, his wife, Lady Sarra Hoy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis - which affects the brain and nerves.

Now, making a rare public appearance since falling ill, Lady Sarra has opened up about the health challenges she and her husband have faced over the last two years.

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She told ITV’s Lorraine: "You just don't sleep, everything is awful.

"It was about trying to control what I could, and I just thought, I can't do anything about cancer, I can't do anything about MS [Multiple Sclerosis], I can't control any of that.

"What can I do? What can I help? What can I change?"

Despite the physical and mental pressure both Lady Sarra and Sir Chris have faced since 2023, the couple are not letting it define them.

Lady Sarra said: "When everything is spiralling just to stop and say, 'right now, we're safe, the children are safe, this can't define us. We will not become the victims of this.

"With kids you don't get a chance, there's no time to stop and have a day in bed, you just don't get that opportunity.

"So yes, the children are everything for us and our family that surrounds us are everything."

Candidly responding to a question about how she is dealing with the pressure, Lady Sarra said: "It's been okay and I think people are really surprised to know that you can sort of be okay, and I think that's definitely what's helped us get through."

Last month, Sir Chris shared the heartbreaking revelation he was unable to lift his daughter after a tumour broke his spine.

Sir Chris said: “When I had scans, secondary tumours in my spine had actually burrowed into the bone so badly it had fractured.

“When they saw it they were like, ‘We’re going to have to be really careful here, you can’t pick up your kids, you can’t do anything’.

"Being told not to pick up your six-year-old daughter, that was like, ‘Right, this is really impacting my life’.

“So 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.

“So I’m back to lifting weights again.”

Sir Chris told the Mid Point podcast: “As soon as you’re told this has been taken away, you suddenly appreciate everything, the basic things.

“It’s like losing your wallet, when you find it, you’re not in a net gain situation but you’re so grateful for it."