Cumbria charity praises Sir Chris Hoy for his 'courage' in speaking about his terminal cancer diagnosis
Northern Cancer Voicers believes the athletes positivity can help others
A Cumbrian cancer charity believes Sir Chris Hoy sharing his terminal prostate cancer diagnosis will help others.
Last weekend, the Olympic gold medal winner revealed he has up to to four years left to live.
Tori Bradison is from Northern Cancer Voices - which supports those with the disease across North Cumbria and the North East.
She said the athlete would "undoubtedly" have an impact by speaking out:
"To see someone like Chris get a cancer diagnosis - and even the King and Catherine - it just feels like it's been very at the forefront at the minute. It's somebody new every day.
"And to read Chris' story and his positivity that he's got is courageous - he's just very much advocating what we would like to do at Northern Cancer Voices, to be positive.
"But people are living longer with a terminal diagnosis. The medicines are great, the surgeries are great. You do ask yourself, why somebody like that, like Sir Chris, but it can affect any of us. The stats are one in two of us will be impacted in our lifetime.
"Everybody will deal with it differently. Everyone will have their own story. But for us - the charity - and the work that we do, just sitting down, talking and being the person that you are is still important. You are more than the cancer diagnosis, you're more than that."
Sir Chris's diagnosis came after his father and grandfather were both diagnosed with the disease, with Ms Bradison urging other men with a family history of prostate cancer to get tested in a bid to catch any cases early.
Hoy: 'Blown away' by the support
In a statement on Instagram on Thursday, Sir Chris said he was "blown away" by the public reaction.
"I've been utterly blown away by the love and support that we've received this week following my announcement that my cancer is stage 4.
"I understand there has been a massive increase in men seeking advice about prostate cancer in the last few days and that's been a huge comfort to us, to know that hopefully many lives could be saved by early testing."