Chris Hoy quits UK with wife to escape 'worst fear' as couple battle incurable diseases

Sir Chris Hoy has opened up on his decision to leave the UK with his wife Sarra and their two children, after bravely revealing that both he and his other half have been diagnosed with incurable diseases

Six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy, 48, has shared the tragic news that the cancer he has been battling is terminal, while also revealing that his wife Sarra, 40, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis.

The former track cyclist has admitted his "worst fear" following this devastating update is that his children will find out the information through their peers at school.

Speaking in a brave interview with The Sunday Times, Sir Chris said he is very worried either his son, Callum, nine, or daughter, Chloe, six, could be told: “I saw your daddy on the news last night and he’s going to die.”

As a result, the couple have decided to escape the UK for a two-week half-term family holiday with their children, in the hopes that things will be less intense upon their return home.

“Hopefully the dust will have settled", Sir Chris shared, before emotionally adding of his biggest concern: “You know what? It may happen. If it does, we will deal with it.”

With Chris' illness, the couple decided to tell their children directly that he had been diagnosed with cancer, but their young daughter and son know nothing about Sarra's MS.

In an extract from his new book, All That Matters, shared with The Times, Chris writes: "Another scan just before Christmas confirmed that Sarra had 'very active and aggressive' MS and needed urgent treatment.

"It's the closest I've come to, like, you know, why me? Just, what? What's going on here? It didn't seem real. It was such a huge blow, when you're already reeling.

You think nothing could possibly get worse. You literally feel like you're at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you've got further to fall. It was brutal."

Although the retired athlete is facing a time shrouded in fear and uncertainty, he also has a hope to raise awareness and "change the perception of stage 4 cancer".

Sir Chris has said that he is expected to live between two and four years. He initially went to the doctor with a pain in his shoulder he thought was a gym injury, before being told he had prostate cancer which had metastasised to tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and ribs.