BBC star Finnian Garbutt has opened up on his battle with cancer in a heartwrenching update. The Hope Street actor, who plays PC Ryan Power in the popular crime drama, which is filmed in Northern Ireland, was diagnosed with Stage 3 skin cancer, which sadly spread to his neck.
The 28-year-old found a lump behind his ear four years ago, which he initially thought was an ingrown hair, and was alarmed when his barber told him the lump had grown substantially. After receiving his devastating diagnosis, Finnian had 75 lymph nodes removed from his face and neck in a gruelling 12-hour surgery.
Tragically, Finnian, who is married with a baby daughter, has now revealed the cancer has spread throughout his body and that he is now ‘entering the last stages of his life’, the Mirror reports.
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Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “Hey all. Over the last month or so I’ve been having quite a bit of pain in my back and hip. My cancer team admitted me the other day for observations and to do a few scans. Unfortunately the scans have shown that the cancer has progressed rapidly in my body and I am now entering the last stages of life.”
He continued: “I’m putting this out there as it is really difficult to tell people individually and I hope now that it’s in the open I can enjoy the time with my amazing family and friends. Since being diagnosed four years ago I have achieved so many of my life goals – 30 episodes on a TV show, being the lead in a movie that should be out soon, buying my own house marrying my best friend and becoming a father to the most incredible baby girl who never fails to make me smile.
“Thank you to all that have reached out over the years and supported me and my family. If anyone wants to meet up for a pint, coffee or general bit of craic please reach out and we can try to make it work. Love as always Finnian.”
Speaking to Belfast Live about his diagnosis, Finnian also admitted his world had come “crashing down”. Revealing his doctors told him he could die, he said: “It was almost as if they accidentally had diagnosed me with cancer and were treating me by mistake.
“I was told I could die; my plastic surgeons had warned me about how ill I could be following surgery. It kept being communicated to me that I was really sick, that I was one step away from being a terminal patient. I was just waiting to hear that I had tumours elsewhere throughout my body.
“I had already come to terms with the fact that I was going to die young. My defence mechanism was to expect the worst. I thought it was only going to be a matter of time.”
