Jonnie Irwinis opening up about spending the past three years in palliative care.
“I’m really good. I have up days and down days but today is very much an up day. The family is great and very noisy,” he said with a laugh, noting life at home with his wife Jessica and their three children — Rex, 3, and 2-year-old twins, Rafa and Cormac.
Irwin, 49, explained that he’s been in palliative care since day one after learning about the cancer. Initially, his experience meant going through blood transfusions as a day patient. However, he said he was able to “embrace it” after being surprised with how well he was treated.
“It’s a delight, actually,” he admitted. “My perception of the hospice was very much a boiling hot room full of people that looked frail and towards the end of their days. This is nothing of the sort. It’s spacious, energized, comfortable. I mean, it’s even got a jacuzzi bath, ensuite rooms, and the staff are just amazing. So I’ve had a really, really good experience at my hospice.”
Meanwhile, Irwin offered advice to those in the same situation as him or those with loved ones in similar situations, urging them to be open with the experience as he learned to do.
“First of all, embrace it. I was invited to use the hospice and I thought, well, I’ll give it a go just as a day patient,” he explained, sharing that the experience quickly shot down his grim expectations. “I implore people to check out hospice. If you’ve got the choice of using it, then use it. It’s not this doom and gloom operation that you might think it was.”
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Jonnie Irwin/Instagram
Irwin was first diagnosed in August 2020 after experiencing blurred vision while driving. A series of tests soon confirmed he had lung cancer.
“Within a week of flying back from filming,I was being given six months to live,” he recalled toHellomagazine earlier this month. “I had to go home and tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was on her own pretty much. That was devastating. All I could do was apologize to her. I felt so responsible.”
The husband and father added that his main goal right now is to inspire others to “make the most of every day.”
Back in November 2022, theEscape to the Countryhost toldThe Sunhe hadn’t told his children about his illnessas it would be “a lot for them to get their heads around.“Now that his cancer has spread to his brain, he said he doesn’t know how much time he has left.
“Then, I think they’re not going to remember me, they’re really not,” he shared. “They’re too young and if I die this year there’s no chance they will have memories. And someone else is probably going to bring them up. I’ve done the hard yards with them and someone else will get the easy bit.”
On family trips to Cypress and Paris, Irwin has focused on documenting their activities. “I want to make those memories for Jess, even if the kids don’t remember it,” he continued to tellThe Sun. “So if she looks at the photo album when I’m long gone she can say to the boys, ‘Here’s the time your dad chucked you in a pool’ or, ‘Here’s the time we went for that day out.'”
source: people.com
