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Celebrity

26th Jan 2022

Only Fools and Horses’ Patrick Murray has cancerous lung tumour removed

Sarah McKenna Barry

The actor said that a recent scan is now giving him a “fighting chance”.

Patrick Murray, who played Mickey Pearce in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The 65-year-old actor took to Twitter to share that he recently had a cancerous tumour on his lung removed, and encouraged his followers to get unexplained pain checked out.

He endorsed a BBC government campaign he saw, and told his followers that attending an ultrasound meant that he now has a “fighting chance”.

He wrote: “Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to endorse this ad would be selfish.

“Thanks to my ultrascan I have a fighting chance. It showed my organs needed further investigation and tumours were spotted.”

He continued: “This led to a pet scan which covers a much larger area. To my wonderful surprise, these lesions were not cancerous but the scan did find an EARLY stage cancerous tumour in my lung.

“This has since been removed and I am tweeting now, which would not be the case if I hadn’t had the ultrasound all those months ago.”

Murray then issued a warning to his followers to be vigilant for the symptoms of cancer.

He wrote: “A lot of people put these symptoms down to age and the discomfort to simply having a weak stomach. Please don’t ignore it if it persists.”

The actor added: “As for me, and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you.”

Murray’s news comes just four months after his co-star John Challis passed away from cancer at the age of 79.

In Ireland, lung cancer is the fifth most common cancer, with almost 2,700 people being diagnosed with it every year. For more information on lung cancer, visit the Irish Cancer Society’s website right here.