Jonnie Irwin plans to celebrate his 50th birthday despite doctors thinking he wouldn’t live until 2023.
The A Place In The Sun presenter is heading to Spain to celebrate his big day amid his terminal battle with cancer.
The star revealed last November that his cancer had spread from his lungs to his brain after he was initially diagnosed in 2020.
Yet Jonnie’s incredible strength led him to celebrate his twins’ third birthday in June, a milestone medical professionals thought he would never experience.
Speak with The sun, the father-of-three admitted: ‘When I was in hospice I thought I’d had it. I was on the brink of death.’
‘I won’t let cancer define me’: Jonnie Irwin plans to celebrate his 50th birthday as he flies to Spain with his family amid terminal battle with cancer
Health update: The star revealed last November that his cancer had spread from his lungs to his brain after he was initially diagnosed in 2020
Two weeks before Rafa and Cormac’s birthday, Jonnie weighed just six stone and was too weak to walk.
‘At my weakest point I thought: ‘This is it, this is the beginning of the end’. I couldn’t eat, I had incredible pain in my back and was skin and bones,” he added.
But Jonnie refused to give up, and once he got home to his family, he began forcing himself out of bed, drinking protein shakes and spending hours in an oxygen tent in an attempt to curb the disease’s growth.
With the help of treatment, including chemotherapy, he has now built up his strength and weighs 8st 6lbs.
“I don’t let cancer define me,” Jonnie said.
And his strength paid off, as the star returned to TV screens on Monday.
He revealed he was returning to British TV to film a home renovation program for BBC Morning Live in Newcastle.
He took to Instagram to announce the news, writing: ‘I hope you enjoyed the short film I made for @bbcmorninglive this morning. If you missed it, it’s now on iplayer. The next one is next Monday morning.”
Tough: Two weeks before his twins Rafa and Cormac’s third birthday in June, Jonnie weighed just six stone and was too weak to walk
Good news: Jonnie Irwin confirmed his return to TV screens on Tuesday amid his ongoing battle with terminal cancer
he’s back! And it was good news when he revealed on Monday that he was returning to British TV to record a home renovation program for BBC Morning Live in Newcastle.
Jonnie has defied the odds since he was given six months to live when he was first diagnosed with the disease.
The star has remained positive throughout the difficult journey and has regularly updated his fans on his condition.
He revealed that during his darkest days, he was shocked by his reflection in the mirror.
Jonnie also advocated telling doctors what you need after making the decision to stop morphine.
Doctors at St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle then switched his medication from morphine to fentanyl.
When he was eventually discharged from the hospice to spend time with his family, wife Jess and his three children Rex, four, Rafa and Cormac, three, he revealed he realized they didn’t believe he had been gone for long.
His wife admitted that she thought her husband was going to die and that it was devastating to think that he would not make it to the twins’ birthday.
