Radio broadcaster James Whale has revealed he considered euthanasia when he learned he had cancer of brain, spine, kidney and lung.
The talkRADIO star was given the news two weeks ago and has said the thought ‘might as well go and get it over with’ was the first to cross his mind and considered going to Dignitas.
But now the 69-year-old has vowed to fight the disease and says he wants to make it til at least 70.
The Celebrity Big Brother star told the Sun: ‘I came home, had a little think about things. I decided I’m just booking myself a trip to Dignitas. You might as well just go and get it over with.
James Whale has revealed he is battling cancer of the brain, spine, kidney and lung twenty years after his first cancer diagnosis. The pioneering broadcaster has said he will fight it
‘I’d looked into it quite some time ago because Melinda died two years ago and it’s been something in the back of my mind.’
Whale was himself given just three months to live when he contracted kidney cancer in 2000
He continued: ‘This little bastard has spread. It’s in my remaining kidney. I’ve got a couple of small lesions in my lungs. I’ve got it in my spine. I’ve got it in my brain.’
Doctors removes one of James’ kidneys 20 years ago when he was first diagnosed with cancer.
The pioneering broadcaster rose to prominence in the 1980s when he established himself as the host of The James Whale Radio Show in Leeds which was broadcast on Radio Aire and ITV.
He now hosts between 7pm and 10pm on talkRADIO alongside long-time co-host Ash Gould.
After news of his latest cancer battle broke, James took to Twitter to thank fans who had reached out to him to offer support:
He said: ‘I just like to thank everybody for their wishes I’m going to be back on the air fairly soon at Talk Radio tomorrow night.
‘You’re also amazing thank you for all your kind words. I’m going to have to go to sleep now but I’ll be on talkRADIO at 6-30 pm tonight x’
The shocking news comes just two years after James lost wife Melinda to cancer.
When she was diagnosed, he told MailOnline: ‘She is not expected to live very long, it may be weeks or months.
‘She is having treatment, and I can’t give up that last glimmer of hope. But the doctors say I have to face facts. She is dying. The though of losing her is so painful, it is difficult to even contemplate.’
Melinda went to her GP in September 2017, after feeling unwell and suffering with a cough.
She said: ‘I thought it was just a virus but the doctor found an infection in my lower, left lung and ear. I was prescribed antibiotics and sent home.’
James and wife Melinda in 2018, when they broke the tragic news that she had just weeks to live after her own cancer diagnosis
When they didn’t work, Melinda went back and was prescribed another course, which also didn’t work, before being sent for a chest X-ray.
She said: ‘I was getting more and more tired. At one point I really doubted myself. I thought, ‘This is in your head, Melinda.’ I thought it was the winter blues.
James’s wife Melinda, who died in May 2018
‘But when I saw the radiographer’s face I immediately knew something was wrong. The next day, I was told I needed further tests.
‘By the time I was told it was cancer in December, I already knew. Don’t ask me how, but I did. I have stage four lung cancer with secondary cancer scattered here, there and everywhere.
‘It’s in my bones, my spine and my lymph glands. It’s gone ping, all over the place.
‘It was such a huge shock.
‘You’re talking three months from perfect health to now, when I sleep almost 24 hours a day. It certainly crept up on me.’
She died just months later, in May 2018.
James had hoped Melinda could overcome the prognosis, like he did 18 years ago when he was told he had a tumour in his kidney the size of a football.
He said: ‘They weren’t sure they could operate. I thought I was going to die.’
After beating the odds, he set up Kidney Cancer UK, a charity that helps support those with the disease and their loved ones.