Revealed: Melbourne Cup winner was given just three months to live after a friend saved his life with one simple act
- Knight’s Choice stunned Australia by winning the cup
- Leading figure behind victory talks about health battle
Melbourne Cup-winning trainer John Symons has revealed how a concerned friend saved his life after urging him to go to hospital when he developed crippling back pain.
It was late 2019 and Symons was seeing a doctor on the Sunshine Coast.
Subsequent scans revealed grim news: Symons had a tumor in his lung when cancer from an undetected melanoma engulfed his body.
“They told me I had to get my shit together because I probably only had three months to live,” Symons said Racenet.
“The cancer guy in charge gave me immunotherapy and I was given four double doses… they didn’t want to operate because the cancer was in both lobes of the lungs.
‘For the next 12 months I was probably in hospital for eight months… Luckily it worked and now I’ve just won the Melbourne Cup.’
Symons’ wife Laxon said her husband’s diagnosis at the time was “pretty horrible” – and they hope his story will inspire other people in a similar situation.
On Tuesday at Flemington, Symons and co-trainer Sheila Laxon stunned the field to win Australia’s most prestigious race.
Melbourne Cup-winning co-trainer John Symons (right) has revealed how a concerned friend saved his life after urging him to go to hospital in 2019 to treat crippling back pain
Irish jockey Robbie Dolan delivered on the big stage for John Symons, winning the Melbourne Cup with outsider Knight’s Choice (pictured)
Robbie Dolan’s stunning victory shocked racing fans across Australia, but the jockey was always quietly confident
Dolan asked NRL legend – and former trackworks jockey – Billy Slater if he could confirm the result after Knight’s Choice was in a photo finish with Warp Speed
Irish-born, Queensland-based jockey Robbie Dolan – formerly singer of Australian reality show The Voice – fired the 66-1 shot to victory, beating Warp Speed as they went to the line together.
Remarkably, Dolan asked NRL legend and former track rider Billy Slater – who interviewed mounted jockeys for Channel 9 – if he had won the race that holds a nation back.
“Yeah, it felt like a lifetime of hanging out with Billy Slater to see if I won or not,” Dolan said after the race.
“I said, ‘Did I win or not?’ – Dolan said Slater replied, “Mate, do you have a loan?”
Dolan – from County Kildare, west of Dublin – arrived in Australia eight years ago and quickly fell in love with the country.
The 28-year-old’s stunning ride at Flemington has further strengthened his relationship with his adopted home.
‘I was young and immature [in Ireland] and I probably needed to go somewhere to expand my experience,” Dolan said of his move.
“I was planning to come for a year and I’ve been here for eight years… and now I’ve won a Melbourne Cup…” I don’t see myself going home anytime soon.”