Only Fools And Horses star Patrick Murray has revealed he recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung.
The British actor – best known for portraying Del Boy and Rodney’s pal Mickey Pearce in the classic BBC sitcom – shared a string of tweets endorsing a government campaign urging people with certain symptoms to undergo an ultrasound, saying he was “speaking from my own experience”.
He explained: “The other day I saw a gov advert advising anyone who has been suffering from bloating, pain or discomfort in the abdominal region and constipation to ask their GP to refer them for an ultrasound exam.
“It’s quick, totally painless and it can save your life. I now speak from my own experience .
“Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to fully endorse this ad would be selfish. Thanks to my ultrascan I have a fighting chance.”
Patrick continued: “It showed my organs needed further investigation and tumours were spotted. This led to a pet scan which covers a much larger area .
“To my wonderful surprise these lesions were not cancerous but the scan did find an EARLY stage cancerous tumour in my lung. This has since been removed and I am tweeting now, which would not be the case if I hadn’t.”
He added: “[I] had the ultrasound all those months ago. A lot of people put these symptoms down to age and the discomfort to simply having a weak stomach. Please don’t ignore it if it persists .
“As for me, and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you.”
Patrick appeared as Mickey in a total of 20 episodes of Only Fools And Horses, airing between 1983 and 2003.
His other acting credits include the films Quadraphenia and The Firm, as well as the TV detective series Endeavour.