Only Fools and Horses favourite Patrick Murray has shared that he recently had an early-stage cancerous tumour removed from his lung.
Known to fans of the iconic sitcom as Mickey Pearce, the 65-year-old starred opposite David Jason's Del Boy and Nicholas Lyndhurst's Rodney Trotter across 20 episodes of Only Fools and Horses, before also going on to feature in the likes of Lovejoy and Curse of the Pink Panther.
In a Twitter thread uploaded last week, Murray informed the world of his health situation and credited a government advert for encouraging him to get his symptoms checked out.
"The other day I saw a [government] advert advising anyone who has been suffering from bloating, pain or discomfort in the abdominal region and constipation to ask their GP to refer them for an ultrasound exam. It's quick totally painless and it can save your life," he began.
"I now speak from my own experience. Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to fully 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."
He ended his thread by thanking the NHS and urging anyone who has worrying symptoms to not put off going to see their doctor.
"A lot of people put these symptoms down to age and the discomfort, to simply to having a weak stomach. Please don't ignore it if it persists," he added.
"As for me and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you."
Since revealing his story, the actor has been praised for raising this serious issue in the public eye, as one person responded: "Thank you for sharing your experience, it may help someone seek advice and treatment sending love your way x."
We wish him all the best.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
