Noddy Holder is continuing to surpass expectations after being given six months to live five years ago (Picture: WireImage)
Slade musician Noddy Holder was given six months to live when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
That was five years ago.
The Merry Xmas Everybody star revealed this year that he had been diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer but thanks to experimental treatment has continued to surpass expectations.
He’s now reflected on his journey since being diagnosed in 2017, including the experimental drugs he’s taken as part of a clinical trial, admitting it was ‘touch and go.’
‘I lost all my hair,’ he told BBC Radio 2. ‘My weight was down to about eight stone.’
The therapy is working however, as the 77-year-old revealed he had a scan in December and ‘everything’s on an even keel.’
The Slade star is best-known for Christmas hit Merry Xmas Everybody (Picture: Getty Images)
His wife, Suzan, shared the news in a letter published in a local paper this year (Picture: Getty)
In October of this year, Noddy’s wife Suzan shared the news that he had been quietly undergoing treatment for the disease for over five years.
Suzan wrote in local magazine Great British Life that she was incredibly moved to watch her husband perform on stage this year – because ‘five years ago we were given the devastating news that he had oesophageal cancer and only had six months to live.’
She explained: ‘We coped with it the only way we could, by hunkering down, sticking together and doing everything we could to survive it.’
The good news of Noddy’s latest scan comes as Slade charts for the 50th year running (Picture: Redferns)
There were ‘no guarantees’ even as he was accepted on to a clinical trial which until then had only accepted people under 60.
But Noddy responded brilliantly to the treatment, and ‘here we are five years later and he’s feeling good and looking great.’
However she clarified that her husband was not ‘cured,’ as it’s a word medical professionals shy away from when it comes to cancer.
Noddy is best-known as a member of Slade, which charts every year with their legendary Christmas hit Merry Xmas Everybody.
The track currently sits at number 33 in the charts, a full 50 years since its release in 1973.
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