Former Home and Away star Johnny Ruffo has given fans an update on his battle with brain cancer. It comes nearly one year after the 33-year-old revealed he was battling brain cancer for a second time.
The popular actor and former X-Factor singer took to Instagram to share a selfie of himself and his girlfriend Tahnee Sims with the caption: “Cracking day for a walk.
“Just thought I’d jump on and give an update. I’m still kicking along with my chemotherapy treatment, feeling pretty exhausted but I’m doing great otherwise and not giving up the fight. Thanks for all the support!!”
Fans and close friends of Johnny’s were quick to show their support, with former co-star Lynne McCranger (who plays Irene Roberts on Home and Away) commenting: “Hello lovely friends. Miss you and can’t wait to catch up.”
Australian singer Danni Minogue wrote: “Stay strong.”
Fan @cheraleeeee commented: “I have been wondering how you are. Great to see you are going OK. Sorry it’s such a hard fight. You are a total inspiration.”
Johnny announced in late November last year that his brain cancer had returned — after being in remission for about a year.
Taking to social media at the time, the actor penned a heartbreaking post revealing he had suffered an “unexpected week of seizures and excruciating headaches”.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have to let you know I now have another huge battle ahead of me as my brain cancer has returned; though I will dig deep and beat this shit disease again,” he wrote alongside a picture of himself with Tahnee.
The actor’s life was turned upside down in 2017, when what he believed to be a migraine turned out to be a very serious brain tumour.
Speaking with Who Magazine’s podcast Who Are You back in 2018, Johnny recalled the terrifying ordeal, revealing that his girlfriend saved his life by rushing him to hospital after he complained of a painful migraine.
Doctors initially told Tahnee to go home — believing Johnny simply did just have a bad migraine. But she woke to devastating news the next morning, as they revealed he had slipped into a coma due to a fist-sized tumour in his brain, which may have been growing for up to 10 years.
“The doctor said, ‘If you didn’t come in [to the hospital], you would have gone to sleep and you would have been dead’,” Johnny told the podcast at the time. “Basically [the tumour was] the size of my fist in my frontal lobe, so all that pressure was being put on my brain, which explains the sever headaches and blackouts.”