Sir Chris Hoy has released never-before-seen footage of him undergoing life-saving chemotherapy treatment for terminal prostate cancer.
Footage shows the cycling legend, 48, in a treatment chair with a voluminous cap strapped to his head, as he smiles at the camera.
The father of two explained that the hat is a layer of ice, which is set to -27 degrees Celsius and is designed to minimize the risk of hair loss.
The images have been published as part of a clip published on BBC sporton social media, ahead of an exclusive interview with the sporting legend, which will air on BBC1 tonight.
The clip also includes segments from the interview, in which Sir Hoy explains that he was initially “not worried” about his hair loss, but changed his mind after hearing the concerns of his nine-year-old son Callum.
“My son Callum was quite worried about what might happen,” Sir Chris said. ‘Is your hair going to fall out? (asked). So, for him I thought, well, this (wearing the cold weather cap) is something I want to do and it’s important to do it. ‘
However, Sir Chris admitted that using the icy device was not easy at all.
“That was the biggest challenge,” he said. ‘It was unbearable. It’s like torture.
Sir Chris Hoy has been pictured wearing a cold cap designed to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy.
‘The strategy was just one step at a time. Just watch the seconds hand spin 24 hours a day. If you can do one more minute, that’s all you need to do.
Patients receiving cancer treatment often wear cold caps to try to prevent hair loss.
Its cooling effect reduces blood flow to the scalp, which also reduces the amount of chemotherapy medication reaching this area, limiting hair loss.
It is usually used for 15 minutes before each chemotherapy treatment and is believed to reduce the risk of chemotherapy-induced baldness by about 50 percent.
The new images come amid the six-time Olympic champion’s first interview after revealing he may only have two years to live due to advanced prostate cancer.
Sir Chris told the BBC: “That was the first thought in my head. How on earth are we going to tell the children? It’s just this absolute horror, it’s a waking nightmare, a living nightmare.
“We just try to be positive and try to say, you know what? This is what we’re doing and you can help because when I’m not feeling well, you can come and give me hugs, you can support me, you can be happy, you can be kind to each other. the other.
In an interview with the BBC last night, he described the “absolute horror and shock” of being told that what he thought was just “pain and discomfort” in his shoulder was actually a tumour.
‘I’m sure many families do it in different ways and I think there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. “There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but for us I think that was the best way to do it.”
While Sir Chris said chemotherapy “was one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced or been through”, He’s doing his best to stay positive and sees chemotherapy as “a good thing, we’re here to try to start fighting back, this will be a positive fight against cancer.”
Sir Chris also took the opportunity to call for prostate cancer testing to be offered more widely.
Recalling that he had suffered “no symptoms, no warnings, nothing” before his diagnosis, he said: “It makes sense to me: why wouldn’t you get tested a little earlier?”
‘Catch it before you need major treatment; It seems obvious to me.
‘Why wouldn’t you lower the age (and) allow more men to just come in and get a blood test?’
Following Sir Chris’ moving testimony, NHS bosses announced that the health service will consider offering men over 45 a screening test.
Health Secretary West Streeting said he had ordered officials to “check whether we are in the right place when it comes to testing”.