AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson, 28, has opened up about her battle with terminal cancer in a heartbreaking interview on Nova’s Head Game podcast with Ant Middleton.
The mother-of-one, who is battling stage 4 bowel and lung cancer, bravely told listeners she did not want her life to be ‘defined by her disease’.
‘If I’m alive, I might as well live. I’m living on borrowed time. I need to make the most of it,’ Kellie said.
Kellie, who is married to Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson, also 28, added that she took pride in ‘thriving’ with cancer and was determined not to take her illness and its side effects ‘one day at a time’.
‘I’m still advocating for this disease that I’m quite literally being treated for,’ she said.
‘I am still parenting really quite well. I’m doing all the things that a normal parent would do for the most part, and I feel like if I lived each day or day by day, then I’m doing a disservice.
‘Like I’m not. I guess I want to make sure that I’m alive for a reason. If I’m alive, I might as well live. I’m living on borrowed time. I need to make the most of it.’
Kellie and Jeremy recently sold their Adelaide home for a price well above their expectations.
AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson, 28, has opened up about her brave battle with terminal cancer in a heartbreaking interview on Nova’s Head Game podcast with Ant Middleton . Picture: Kellie with her daughter Sophia
The couple revealed in August they were selling their property so they could get a place suited to providing Kellie with in-home care.
The social media influencer has been fighting bowel and lung cancer after she was diagnosed in November 2021 following the birth of the couple’s daughter Sophia.
She underwent several surgeries and chemotherapy after her initial stage 3 diagnosis worsened to stage 4.
The mother-of-one, who is battling stage 4 bowel and lung cancer, bravely told listeners she did not want her life to be ‘defined by her disease’. Pictured with husband, Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson, and their daughter
In July, she confirmed the sad news she would have to resume chemotherapy to quickly get on top of the cancer, which had started growing again after she stopped chemo and radiation therapy in favor of natural and alternative treatments.
The couple sold their home at auction for $915,000, with the bidding starting at $700,000 before climbing quickly.
The home attracted plenty of interest and was eventually sold to a local buyer.
They bought the house in May 2022 and hoped to make it their home for many years.
‘I really wanted a heritage home, like a villa with hardwood floors, and this one was in really good condition,’ Kellie told Adelaide Now.
‘It’s got the world’s biggest backyard, and we wanted to extend, but with my health that didn’t happen.’
Unfortunately, Kellie’s ongoing illness means the couple needs more room for her care and have decided to find a rental property.
The social media influencer has been fighting bowel and lung cancer after she was diagnosed in November 2021 following the birth of Sophia
‘This was to be our forever home, but I guess life had other plans,’ Kellie said.
In January this year, Kellie stopped her chemotherapy and radiation treatments to put her trust in natural therapies and alternative medicine.
Sadly, the severity of her cancer battle made that impossible.
‘Unfortunately with cancer, especially relapsed cancer, it grows really fast so once we see not even quite a millimetre of growth in a scan over a couple of months, we know that means it’s growing and that means that we have to act on it, Kellie said in a video she posted on TikTok.
‘So normally I walk out of a meeting with my oncologist and he tells me that we’re happy to watch and wait. Not the case today.
‘I am off to see a surgeon next week and a radiotherapist also just to get all of my options before potentially starting chemotherapy again.
The social media influencer has been fighting bowel and lung cancer after she was diagnosed in November 2021 following the birth of the couple’s daughter Sophia
‘I guess I’m one of the lucky ones because we know chemotherapy works really well for me, but any chemotherapy is f***ed and not what I want to be doing.’
Kellie is hopeful she can manage the illness with treatments that may allow her to survive for many years to come.
‘As long as [the cancer] is being maintained, I feel like I’ve got the potential to have quite a long life. I could see Sophia’s 21st birthday!’ she said.
‘I hope I see her first day of school. That’s still years away, but it’s longer than I anticipated when I first heard the diagnosis.’