Jonnie Irwin shares latest health update: ‘Crazed, panicked chemo boy’

The ‘A Place in the Sun’ presenter was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020

Jonnie Irwin has shared a heartwarming anecdote about Easter travel as he deals with terminal cancer.

The 49-year-old, who is best known for presenting the property TV show A Place in the Sun, said in November that he “doesn’t know how long” he has left to live, after first being diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2020.

In an Instagram post shared on Monday (10 April), the Escape to the Country presenter posted a selfie in which he was wearing a yellow hat, with a caption recounting a funny anecdote of his Easter travel.

He wrote that he must have “looked a right state” as he attempted to run for a train.

“Must’ve looked a right state – crazed and panicked Chemo boy dragging a wheeled case with a strange transparent shoulder bag falling down his arm and a hot crossed bun hanging from the side of his mouth attempting to run for the departing train,” he wrote.

Irwin added that the train guard “thankfully” held the door and he made it onto his train.

“My penance was that my seat was at the opposite end so I had to walk past all the passengers who had viewed this spectacle,” he added.

In a recent interview, Irwin said he’s now “weak” and “fragile” but “still here”.

He opened up about how an attempt to play football with his four-year-old son “broke” him.

“I tried to play football with Rex the other day and was in goal and I couldn’t get near the ball. It was so frustrating,” he told The Sun.

“I’m very sporty and suddenly it’s just like… it was as if it was the first time I’d attempted football. I felt like a granddad. And that broke me a bit.”

He added: “I always thought, ‘I’m an older dad but I’ll be leading from the front,’ but I’m now at the back.”

Irwin also revealed that he recently celebrated his 50th birthday early, ahead of the actual date in November, with a huge party with 170 friends and family.

“It was a great night,” he said. “I chose a playlist with some great tunes from the Nineties and 2000s and people came from all over the country and abroad.

“I didn’t know the extent of the loyalty and generosity that my friends would exhibit. I’ve been dumbfounded and spellbound by their support, as well as that of our families, who have been amazing.”

In February, Irwin shared an Instagram Story telling fans that he had begun hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a treatment that involves breathing pure (hyperbaric) oxygen in a pressurised environment.

Irwin shared an image of the zip-up portable chamber he was using after visiting a treatment centre in Newcastle on foot, captioning it: “And at the end of this walk…is this… #hyperbaricoxygentherapy.”

It is thought that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can increase the amount of oxygen in cancer cells, which may make them easier to kill with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.