By Charlie Herbert
‘I remove myself on a number of occasions because I’m not good to be around’
Jonnie Irwin has revealed that he sometimes stays in a hospice to deal with the excruciating pain he suffers as a result of his terminal cancer.
Last November, the former A Place In The Sun presenter said he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer that had spread to his brain.
At the time, he said he was undergoing chemotherapy and other drug treatments but may only have a few months to live.
He explained that he is conscious about maximising his time with his wife, Jessica Holmes, and their sons, three-year-old Rex and two-year-old twins Cormac and Rafa, and was “living with cancer, not dying from it.”
He has yet to tell his three young sons about his cancer.
In a new interview with Hello! Magazine, he updated fans on his wellbeing, and admitted that he sometimes has to ‘remove himself’ from his family home and stays in a hospice to deal with pain he is experiencing after treatment abroad.
The treatment caused huge damage to his liver and has led to him suffering from chronic pain in his back.
Irwin explained that when he is experiencing this pain he is “not good to be around” and doesn’t want his children to be affected by his mood.
“I remove myself on a number of occasions because I’m not good to be around when I’m in pain,” he said.
“I’m like a bear with a sore head and I don’t want them to be around that.”
And he spoke again of his desire to spend the remaining time he has left making memories with his three sons.
He continued: “I want to make plans. I want to make memories and capture these moments with my family because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart.”
“Some people in my position have bucket lists, but I just want us to do as much as we can as a family.”
Explaining why he’s decided not to tell his sons about his illness, he said: “I keep being asked, ‘Are you going to tell them?’ But tell them what? It would be horrible news that they’d have to get their heads around.
“And it would confuse the hell out of Rex – he’s got a shocking enough day coming. Let’s bury our heads in the sand for as long as possible.”
