Christopher Dean had cancer scare

3 January 2017

Skating legend Christopher Dean thought he was going to die two years ago.

Christopher Dean

The former 'Dancing on Ice' coach - who is one half of the world-famous skating duo Torvill and Dean with his partner Jayne Torvill - spent two weeks thinking he may not live to see his children Jack, 18, and Sam, 16, grow up after doctors discovered a 2cm growth on his colon and demanded he have a biopsy as soon as possible.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: "I had not long finished the final series of 'Dancing on Ice' in 2014 when I started to get bad stomach pains. In fact, they were agonising. Until that point, the only thing that had been wrong with me was injuries I had incurred from skating.

"Luckily, I was due to have a routine medical check-up and it involved a colonoscopy. When the results came back, they showed I had a 2cm growth, what is known as a polyp, on my colon.

"I had never heard about polyps but my doctor explained they are growths on the inside lining of the colon and he said a biopsy was needed to ­establish if it was cancerous or not. I was told about the various types of polyps - hyperplastic and inflammatory polyps do not carry a risk of developing into cancer, but my doctor was convinced I had a adenoma or adenomatous polyp. Considered pre-cancerous, if left alone they can turn into colon cancer.

"I found myself preparing for the fact I might have a life-changing illness. For two weeks, I thought I might need a serious operation that would have involved taking away a good chunk of my stomach. It was the longest two weeks of my life not knowing if I was going to live or die - it was a scary prospect being faced with my own mortality."

However, the 58-year-old ice skater was later given the all-clear when his results came back to confirm the polyp was benign and didn't need to be removed, but the doctors would like to monitor it every five years.

Christopher - who is married to Karen Barber - explained: "Luckily, in the end the biopsy results came back and the polyp was benign and I didn't need to have them removed. I can't tell you the relief I felt and it really did help me put things into perspective about the previous skating injuries I had incurred. I have been told that I need to have a check-up every five years. But the body is an amazing tool and it strives to repair itself as much as it can."