Chris Hoy has revealed how he was reduced to tears while recording a heartfelt message to his children in his new memoir, All That Matters, amid his cancer battle.

The six-time Olympic gold medallist, 48, tragically revealed his prostate cancer was terminal in October and has been given between two and four years to live.

Appearing on Lorraine on Tuesday morning, the athlete spoke about how he and his wife Sarra Kemp broke the news to their children Callum, nine, and Chloe, six.

Chris also emphasised the importance of screenings and his campaign to get the age that GPs recommend PSA tests lowered, as he heartbreakingly admitted if he had tested earlier, he believes the disease could have been caught quicker.

He said: ‘It’s been an overwhelming response, so many people getting in touch and going to doctors for checkups. As men we’re a bit guilty of not checking our health, and that’s now changing. 

‘Normally the threshold is 50, then your doctor might ask you to get a PSA test. But for me with family history – my grandpa and dad both had prostate cancer. 

Chris Hoy has revealed how he was reduced to tears while recording a heartfelt message to his children in his new memoir, All That Matters, amid his cancer battle

The six-time Olympic gold medallist, 48, tragically revealed his prostate cancer was terminal in October and has been given between two and four years to live (pictured July)

Appearing on Lorraine on Tuesday morning, the athlete spoke about how he and his wife Sarra Kemp broke the news to their children Callum, nine, and Chloe, six (pictured)

‘In my opinion if I had been screened earlier, then there was a chance we might have caught it. Nothing against my own GP, my doctors have been amazing, but I think in general as a nation if we can have the threshold lowered, we could save a lot of lives.’

Speaking about what he has told his kids, Chris said: ‘We’ve told them the basics of it. Before I went in to do chemotherapy, we explained what was happening. 

‘We weren’t sure how I was going to respond to chemo so it was important to let the kids know that actually I am going to be unwell but it’s because of the chemotherapy, it’s because of the treatment.’ 

The cyclist revealed Sarra had made a drawing of a blossom tree for their son and daughter to add a blossom to for every chemo treatment he underwent.

He explained: ‘Every day during chemo they put a little blossom onto it… They had a really lovely time putting that on each day. In the difficult times during chemo you can see that the tree was slowly growing and that was really representative.’

While he emphasised that his autobiography, All That Matters, which was released last month, was meant to be a positive book.

He said: ‘It wasn’t an easy thing to write, it was very cathartic, but it was a very emotional story. It wasn’t supposed to be a poor me story, but meant to be about how you can find hope in a dark situation.’

Host Lorraine Kelly then read out a heartbreaking pᴀssage from the book that Chris had written for his children for after his pᴀssing.

Chris also emphasised the importance of screenings and his campaign to get the age that GPs recommend PSA tests lowered, as he heartbreakingly admitted if he had tested earlier, he believes the disease could have been caught quicker

While he explained that he had undergone cold cap therapy to reduce the hair loss caused by chemo, for the sake of his son Callum

It read: ‘Look after your mum. She’s the best person I’ve ever met on this planet and we’re all so lucky to have her in our lives and she will give you hugs from me. 

‘And I hope you will always feel the unconditional love and pride I have for you and know that you brought sunshine into my world simply by being yourselves.’

Admitting his emotion at the poignant words, Chris said he had cried while recording the message for the audiobook of the book.

He confessed: ‘It wasn’t easy to write that and certainly even harder for the audiobook reading it out. I was doing that line by line with a box of tissues, but I got through it.’

While he explained that he had undergone cold cap therapy to reduce the hair loss caused by chemo, for the sake of his son Callum.

The cold cap’s cooling effect reduces blood flow to the scalp, which also reduces the amount of chemotherapy medication that reaches this area, and is thought to reduce the risk of chemo-induced baldness by around 50 per cent.

Chris previously compared the treatment to ‘having your head in a vice’, later admitting to the BBC: ‘That was the biggest challenge. It was excruciating. It’s like torture.’

However, he told Lorraine it had been ‘worth it’, explaining: ‘The cold cap wasn’t pleasant. It’s not part of the treatment, but it does allow you to keep your hair. 

Chris also spoke about his Sarra was doing following her own diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS). His wife, who has ‘got him through it all’ over the last 14-years, discovered she had the incurable disease, just a week after Chris was diagnosed with cancer (pictured Friday)

‘A significant part of cancer treatment is you often lose your hair during chemo. People want to keep their hair and it means you have the choice of keeping it private or sharing your news with people.

‘But for me it was really about Callum. He was a bit worried about what was going to happen and was I going to lose my hair or not, so I decided to try the cold cap. 

‘It was pretty uncomfortable. But it was worth it. When you do lose it – as soon as you look in the mirror, everytime it’s reminding you of the situation you’re in.’

Chris also spoke about his Sarra was doing following her own diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS).

His wife, who has ‘got him through it all’ over the last 14-years, discovered she had the incurable disease, just a week after Chris was diagnosed with cancer.

He told Lorraine: ‘She’s doing incredibly well and she doesn’t allow herself to wallow at any time. Because she says in the here and the now we’re doing okay, we’re both stable. It’s about planning for the future, but also enjoying the here and the now.’

Chris has been undergoing chemotherapy and prioritizing time with Sarra and their two children.

Last month, the sportsman said he has accepted that ‘none of us live forever’ and has since ‘found ways to be positive’.

Chris revealed in February he was being treated for cancer, but the disease then spread to his bones, with tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine, and rib (pictured at London 2012 Olympics)

Last month, the sportsman said he has accepted that ‘none of us live forever’ and has since ‘found ways to be positive’ 

‘A year on, I genuinely feel as though I’ve made that progress. I’ve kind of got through the difficult six months,’ he said on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio UK.

He went on: ‘We’ve accepted what’s happened and we’ve moved on and it’s, you know, it’s a stage four diagnosis, so it’s with me for the rest of my life.

‘But do you know what? None of us live forever. So you’ve got to crack on and you find ways to be positive, to hope, to have hope.

‘I was in a bad way for a while, but with the support of Sarra, my wife, and, you know, really good friends and family around me, you get through it and you can get through it.’

Chris revealed in February he was being treated for cancer, but the disease then spread to his bones, with tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine, and rib.

He appeared on BBC Breakfast News and shared his ‘absolute shock and horror’ as doctors told him the ‘nightmare’ diagnosis.

He said: ‘It’s been the toughest year of our lives so far by some stretch. No symptoms, no warnings, nothing. All I had was a pain in my shoulder and a little bit of pain in my ribs.’

‘It was the biggest shock of my life. I remember the feeling of just absolute horror and shock.’

He appeared on BBC Breakfast News and shared his ‘absolute shock and horror’ as doctors told him the ‘nightmare’ diagnosis (pictured) 

Chris wanted to be honest with his children from the outset, but has also been keen to put across a positive message.

He said: ‘That was the first thought in my head. How on Earth are we going to tell the kids? It’s just this absolute horror, it is a waking nightmare, living nightmare.

‘We just tried to be positive and tried to say do you know what, this is what we’re doing and you can help because when I’m not feeling well, you can come and give me cuddles, you can be supportive, you can be happy, you can be kind to each other.

‘I’m sure lots of families do it in different ways and I think there’s no one right approach for anyone. There’s no one-size-fits-all, but for us I think that was the best way to do it.’

Recalling how he had suffered ‘no symptoms, no warning, nothing’ before his diagnosis, he said: ‘It’s logical to me – why wouldn’t you get the test a little bit earlier?’

‘Catch it before you need to have any major treatment, to me it seems like a no brainer.

‘Why would you not reduce the age [and] allow more men to just go in and get a blood test.’

Sir Chris added that chemotherapy ‘was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced and gone through’ when he was ‘still reeling from the diagnosis’.

The Daily Mail have relaunched our End Needless Prostate Deaths campaign in a bid to improve diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.