Johnny Ruffo has taken to social media to thank fans and friends for their ongoing support and share a quick health update. It comes after the former Home and Away star, 32, announced last month that his brain cancer had returned after being in remission.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Johnny shared a number of photos of himself receiving chemotherapy, alongside the message, “Thank you so much for all the support, you guys have helped keep my spirits high and you keep me fighting. Let’s smash this chemo.”
The first picture shows Johnny giving a positive thumbs up while receiving treatment, while the second features his loving girlfriend Tahnee Sims.
Fans and friends were quick to comment on the post, with his past Home and Away co-stars leading the way.
“Sending so much love to you my darling friend,” Lynne McGranger wrote. “Let’s catch up again soon.”
Actress Emily Symons then commented, “Thinking of you darling, sending all our love and strength.”
Fans also showed their support, with one writing, “You’ve got this.” Another added, “Lot’s of love Johnny.” While a third wrote, “You’ll beat it mate. You’re a true fighter!”
It comes almost three weeks after the actor revealed his brain cancer had returned. Taking to social media at the time, the former X-Factor singer 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 singer’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 back in 2018, the actor 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.”