Sir Chris Hoy’s spouse saved her MS prognosis secret from him after he came upon he was dying of most cancers

Sir Chris Hoy’s wife has told how she kept her multiple sclerosis diagnosis a secret from her husband as it ‘wasn’t the right time’ to share the news with him so soon after they had been told he had terminal cancer.

Lady Sarra Hoy had ‘never in a million years’ expected a diagnosis of the incurable neurological condition when she began suffering a tingling sensation in her face last summer.

But she overcame the initial shock of her diagnosis without the support of Sir Chris – who she described as her ‘crutch’ – as they were still trying to find ‘stable ground’ after finding out he had stage four prostate cancer.

Instead she drew on an ‘incredible sense of courage’ and the support of her sister before sharing the news with her husband, who has praised her ‘selfless’ efforts to protect him.

Yesterday the 40-year-old former lawyer said: ‘It came completely out of the blue and I just knew it wasn’t the right time.

Sarra Hoy spoke while appearing alongside husband Sir Chris, 48, on ITV’s This Morning

Chris revealed that the first thought that passed through his mind when waiting for the doctor was his children and what will happen 

Chris explained how difficult it was for him and his family during the first six months and how his children were the driving factor for him to get up and carry on

‘I always tell Chris everything and we are always each other’s crutch in everything in life so it was very against the grain to not share it with him but I just knew it wasn’t the right time.

‘We were trying to find stable ground having just been given this diagnosis from him.

‘I think you get a bit of mum strength. In amongst the fear I just felt this incredible sense of courage come over me.

‘It’s been tough, but actually, we’ve been able to do it together. Once you’re in it, you can cope with so much more than you think.’

Sir Chris, Scotland’s most decorated Olympian, has spoken about how he ‘immediately broke down’ and was ‘distraught’ when his wife shared her diagnosis after keeping it from him for a month.

She had thought her symptoms were caused by a dental infection and in an interview alongside Sir Chris, 48, for ITV’s This Morning, she said she had not been concerned when she went to get the results of an MRI scan.

She said: ‘I had in the summer just some tingling in my face, a change of sensation. I thought it was a root canal and I was sending messages [to Chris] panicking about some kind of dental treatment.

‘Popping along to the doctor I thought they were going to just satisfy me and say they would keep an eye on it. Never in a million years thought they would be saying those words. That has taken some getting used to.’

The couple have been married for around 14 years and share children Callum and Chloe

The couple, who married in Edinburgh in 2010, have supported each other in navigating the healthcare system as they underwent tests and treatment for their respective conditions.

Sir Chris’s cancer had spread to his bones before he was diagnosed but he is currently ‘pain free’ after undergoing chemotherapy.

But he was told when he was diagnosed that his life expectancy was likely to be between two and four years, leaving the couple with an agonising dilemma over how to tell their children Callum and Chloe, who are now aged 10 and seven.

Lady Sarra added: ‘It was such a huge thing that we knew we had to tell them. Again it was just trying to stop and take stock and go “where are we right now?” and obviously we were in panic and realising we don’t need to give that to the children just now.

‘I think we had some time and tried to do it in a really considered manner. By the time we took that breath and said “stop, hold”. We wanted to protect them, that was our main priority.

‘I think we did manage to do that and be really honest with them but at the same time not give them information that they needed to carry yet.’

The family have also since found a sense of hope, and Sir Chris has launched a charity project called Tour de 4 to help others come to terms with stage four cancer.

He said: ‘In the early stages you can’t imagine yourself ever being positive again, you can’t imagine yourself laughing again, you can’t imagine yourself having joy in your life again.

‘All these things they don’t come back overnight, they take a long time but I think it comes with hope.

‘The Tour de 4 is to shine a light on stage four cancer of all sorts. Not everybody is as lucky as myself, some people don’t have as much time, but for now I’m fit and healthy and I’m going to crack on and raise hopefully a huge amount of money and change perception of stage four cancer as actually there’s a lot of life still to live.’

One of his first charity challenges will be a 160-mile five-day cycle ride across Cambodia later this month to raise money for impoverished children.