“They were telling me I’m done.”
Jonnie Irwin has vowed to make it to his 50th birthday after doctors told him months ago that he had just days to live.
The A Place In The Sun presenter has been fighting terminal cancer since being diagnosed with the disease in 2020.
The 49-year-old went public with his diagnosis last November and since then has been posting updates and sharing family moments on social media as he continues to defy the odds.
Initially told he had just six months to live, Jonnie’s 50th birthday is on 18 November with the TV star planning to travel to Spain to celebrate the milestone.
In a new interview with The Sun, the presenter opened up about how he was given just days to live earlier this year after being taken into St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle.
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Jonnie Irwin vows to reach 50th birthday after doctors said he had just days to live
He explained: “One day, the oncologist, hospice doctors and a couple of nurses came in and started telling me to go home and spend time with my family.
“The penny didn’t drop at first. My ears only heard: ‘You’re going home,’ because I was pretty out of it. It was only later I thought: ‘They were telling me I’m done.’”
However, upon returning home, Jonnie began forcing himself out of bed, drinking protein shakes to build up strength and spending hours in an oxygen tent in an effort to prevent the cancer from growing.
And having recently undergone radiotherapy, he now plans to celebrate his birthday in Spain, telling The Sun:
“Lying in the hospice, I thought I’d had it. I was on the cusp of death.
“I’d never thought about dying, despite the cancer, and Jess and I don’t talk about it. But at my weakest point, I thought: ‘This is it, this is the beginning of the end’.
“I never thought I’d be here. I’m really looking forward to some time with Jess and the boys.”
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