Billy Connolly told of Cancer, Parkinson’s on the same day – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Billy Connolly told of Cancer, Parkinson’s on the same day




Billy-Connolly

Billy Connolly has revealed that he was diagnosed with both prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease on the same day.

The comedian, aged 71, describes in a new ITV programme how he received the diagnosis. He tells the programme: “It was a funny week I had. On the Monday I got hearing aids, on the Tuesday I got pills for heartburn which I have to take all the time. And on the Wednesday I got news that I had prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

“They told me on the phone, they said, ‘look we’ve had the result and it’s cancer.’ And I said, ‘Oh nobody’s ever said that to me before’.”

He told Radio Times: “I remember I went through to the bedroom to answer the phone, and [wife] Pamela [Stephenson] was behind me — I thought she was gonna catch me.

“And she sort of held me, and I went, ‘Oh Jesus…’ But when we went into the living room I went, phrrhrht.”

Connolly, who has since been given the all-clear after treatment for prostate cancer, dismissed a claim that the drugs that he had to take for Parkinson’s caused on-stage memory loss in Belfast last year.

“Oh that was bulls**t! It makes me so f**king angry! “I’ve lost my train of thought all [through] my career!” He added: “I just ramble off and come back ages later.”

Connolly said that he uses notebooks to improve his memory: “I’ve put myself on a strict regime of crossword books. They remind me of everything. I have to train my memory.”

“I’ve got a notebook with all the words I tend to forget. It’s the same ones cropping up again and again.”

Connolly talks about his own death in the documentary. “I don’t think I want a resting place. I want to be scattered to the wind,” he says.

* The first part of Billy Connolly’s Big Send Off airs on May 7, at 9pm on ITV.

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