Countryfile star Adam Henson has bravely spoken out about his wife Charlie’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis and how it affected his family, including the heartbreaking admission that she wrote goodbye letters to her loved ones.
The TV presenter, 58, revealed that the couple ‘cried a lot’ and decided to get married quickly after Charlie was diagnosed, seeing the wedding as a way to ‘say goodbye to everyone’.
Charlie, who is now in recovery, fell ill over Christmas 2020 and went to see a doctor while still unwell in February 2021. Doctors later found a 4.5cm tumour.
The couple married in September 2021 in a ceremony in front of their closest loved ones at Stroud Registry Office, just a day before Charlie was admitted for surgery.
In 2023, Adam said Mirror: “Those vows cemented my emotions and allowed me to say from the heart how I feel about Charlie.”
Countryfile star Adam Henson bravely spoke out about his wife Charlie’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis and how it affected his family (pictured in 2019).
The couple met as teenagers in sixth form and live together on the 1,600-acre Cotswolds farm where Adam grew up; They are proud parents to children Ella and Alfie, who are now in their twenties.
Charlie admitted that marriage had never been important to her until her diagnosis, especially because at the time she wasn’t sure whether the cancer was terminal or not.
Fortunately, it was later confirmed that Charlie had a neuroendocrine tumor, which appeared operable.
She was booked in for surgery the day after the wedding and the whole family traveled to London for the operation.
Charlie heartbreakingly recalled how he prepared for the worst: “Saying goodbye to everyone at the hospital was horrible.
“Cancer is so lonely: you get all this love and support from everyone, but you’re still alone. It’s so hard.
‘I wrote letters to Adam, the children and my sisters, and left them on my bedside table for them to find.
“The only thing I could do now was hold on to the fact that I still had a chance, no matter how small.”
The couple met as teenagers in sixth form and live together on the 1,600-acre Cotswolds farm where Adam grew up; They are proud parents to children Ella and Alfie, now in their twenties (pictured in 2023).
The TV presenter, 58, revealed the couple “cried a lot” and decided to get married quickly after Charlie’s diagnosis, seeing the wedding as a way to “say goodbye to everyone” (pictured on Countryfile last month) .
Charlie underwent the surgery, which was successful, and is now in “continuous recovery” and undergoes scans every six months, although he admits he still finds waiting for the results “absolutely terrifying.”
When Charlie first started feeling unwell in February 2021, the couple made an appointment with their GP and were referred for various tests.
Initially, their fecal samples were tested for possible infection on the farm and came back negative. But by May, she Charlie was suffering from crippling diarrhea and had lost 10 pounds in weight, admitting that she felt “exhausted” and “exhausted.”
He was then given a malabsorption test to check his digestion and the test revealed that he was not producing enough enzymes to make his food and his GP diagnosed him with an “insufficient pancreas”, which can be treated with dietary changes and medication.
Doctors told Charlie there was nothing to worry about, but she was still worried after she conducted an internet search of her symptoms, which showed they were consistent with pancreatic cancer.
Her doctor insisted it was “very unlikely” she had the disease, but scheduled her for a scan.
After an agonizing five-week wait, during which the family thought “no news means good news,” the test results arrived.
Receiving the news while Charlie was filming in Scotland in August 2021, he was told over the phone that he had pancreatic cancer and that a 4.5cm tumor had been found.
Cancer: Charlie fell ill over Christmas 2020 and went to see a doctor while still unwell in February 2021, with doctors later finding a 4.5cm tumour. He is now in ‘continuing recovery’
The TV star is best known for his presenting role on Countryfile, which he has held since 2001, when Charlie, who is a BBC locations manager, encouraged him to take the role.
Charlie recently described hearing the news as “absolute hell”, adding: “I couldn’t process it, it was too big to take in.”
He admitted that he knew people who had died of pancreatic cancer and thought it was the end of his life as he remembered the devastating news.
Recalling when he found out, Adam said, “As a farmer, you’re solving problems every day from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed,” he says. ‘But he didn’t have the skills or knowledge to solve this problem.
‘I was terrified. He was emotionally overwhelming; “All I could do was deal with the facts and be as supportive as possible.”
Charlie is now back working in television as a location manager and hopes to travel more with Adam.
The TV star is best known for his presenting role on Countryfile, which he has held since 2001, when Charlie, who is a BBC locations manager, encouraged him to take the role.
Countryfile airs weekly on BBC One every Sunday and reports on rural, farming and environmental issues in the UK.