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Sir Geoffrey Boycott reveals he’s ‘lucky to be alive’ following recent health challenges

Matthew Hart
Aug 03, 2024
After Boycott’s positive health update, fans swiftly expressed their relief and sent their best wishes for his speedy recovery. Source: Getty Images.

Fans can now breathe a sigh of relief after cricket legend Sir Geoffrey Boycott revealed that he is on the road to recovery following a recent health scare.

Boycott shocked fans and the sporting community when he announced that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer for the second time, revealing his diagnosis in a statement to The Telegraph. 

“In the last few weeks I have had an MRI scan, CT scan, a PET scan and two biopsies and it has now been confirmed I have throat cancer and will require an operation,” Boycott said.

“From past experience I realise that to overcome cancer a second time I will need excellent medical treatment and quite a bit of luck and, even if the operation is successful, every cancer patient knows they have to live with the possibility of it returning.

“So I will just get on with it and hope for the best.”

The former Yorkshire and England batsman underwent surgery recently in an attempt to beat the disease he was initially diagnosed with in 2002.

Although he was discharged to recover at home following surgery, his daughter Emma recently revealed that her father had returned to hospital after his health went downhill.

“Thank you all for the well wishes, we’ve been blown away by the sheer number of them!” she wrote in an update to social media.

“Unfortunately things have taken a turn for the worse and my Father has developed pneumonia and is unable to eat or drink so is back in hospital on oxygen and a feeding tube for the foreseeable.”

In a fortunate turn of events, however, the cricket great has now revealed that he is on the mend after being discharged from hospital, sharing that he feels “lucky to be alive”.

“I am still here because of the quick thinking of my wife Rachael. She recognised I had taken a turn for the worse in my recovery from surgery for throat cancer,” he said in a column for The Telegraph.

“I was recuperating at home from the operation and felt pretty good at first but overnight I became delirious, was not talking properly and looked awful. We had a pulse oximeter at home which she put on my finger and it recorded my blood oxygen level at 35 per cent. That is when she knew there was a major problem and called an ambulance. I was rushed back in, put on oxygen and diagnosed with pneumonia.

“It has knocked hell out of me and if Rachael had not acted so quickly I am pretty sure I would not have made it through the night. She saved my life, no doubt about that. The treatment was lying in bed wearing an oxygen mask, taking antibiotics on a drip, coughing up and being fed through a tube in my nose. Not moving for days really sapped my energy. I felt very weak but once the pneumonia was under control, the breathing improved and I felt better. The staff were fabulous.

“Now I just need to get my strength back, and slowly get out and about around the house and in the garden. I want to get some fresh air in my lungs. I will be coughing up stuff for a while yet but hopefully the air outside will help the healing process.”

After Boycott’s positive health update, fans swiftly expressed their relief and sent their best wishes for his speedy recovery.

Throughout his remarkable career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott emerged as one of England’s premier opening batsmen. He played a crucial role in the English team that finished as runners-up in the 1979 Cricket World Cup.

Boycott made his international debut in a Test match against Australia in 1964. Renowned for his tenacity at the crease, he was a stalwart in England’s Test batting lineup for many years.

Following his playing days, Boycott transitioned to a career as a cricket commentator on radio and television.

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