Chris Hoy reveals he went through ‘torture’ by wearing -27C ice cap during chemotherapy for sake of his son
SIR CHRIS HOY opened up about the “excruciating” lengths he went through during chemotherapy after his cancer diagnosis.
Hoy, 48, announced last month during a Sunday Times interview that his cancer is terminal.
The six-time Olympic cycling champion went public in February and confirmed that he was undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy.
A tumour was found in the Olympian’s shoulder and a second scan found primary cancer in his prostate, which had metastasised to his bones.
Hoy discussed the ordeal he went through while undergoing chemotherapy during a brave bout with the illness.
The cyclist had to wear freezing cold mittens, socks and an ice cap with a temperature of -27C.
The British legend decided to go through that “torture” for the sake of his son Callum, 10, so that he wouldn’t lose his hair during treatment.
Holy told BBC Sport: “It [chemotherapy] was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced and gone through.
“And it’s walking into a cancer ward, seeing really ill people around you and just feeling like you’re looking into the future.
“They put like these -27C mittens and socks on and an ice cap as well.
“The hands and feet are to stop you losing the sense of touch. For your head, it’s to prevent hair loss or to minimise hair loss.
“I’ve not got much hair anyway. I wasn’t fussed if I lost it. I thought that’s a small price to pay, but my son Callum was quite worried about what might happen, are you going to lose your hair?
“So for him I thought, well this is something I want to do and it’s important to do.
“That was the biggest challenge. It was excruciating. It’s like torture. The strategy was just take it one step at a time.
“Just watch that seconds hand go round the clock. If you can do one more minute, that’s all you need to do.”
Sir Chris also called for a change to the current screening in England.
The NHS has no national screening program for prostate cancer, but men aged 50 and over can ask their GP for a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
Hoy said: “I believe that the screening for men with a strong family history of prostate cancer should be a lot younger, a lot.
“It’s logical to me, why would you not just get the test a little bit earlier, catch it before you need to have any major treatment? So to me it seems a no-brainer.
“Why would they not reduce the age, bring the age down, allow more men to just go in and get a blood test?”