NewIdea
  • Royals
  • Celebrity
  • News
  • Beauty & Style
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Travel
  • Home & Away
  • Podcasts
  • Win
  • Video
NewIdea
  • Royals
  • Celebrity
  • News
  • Beauty & Style
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Travel
  • Home & Away
  • Podcasts
  • Win
  • Video
Subscribe
Home and Away opening title
Watch 1:09

Home and Away opening title

{headline}

{headline}

Johnny Ruffo opens up about 10 year battle with depression

Johnny Ruffo opens up about 10 year battle with depression

‘Blows my mind’: Johnny Ruffo’s girlfriend Tahnee Sims on brain tumour battle

Johnny Ruffo: 'I was hours from death'

Bridie Carter: 'I've moved to The Bay!'

Bridie Carter: 'I've moved to The Bay!'

{headline}

{headline}

Pia Miller FINALLY reveals her real name

Pia Miller FINALLY reveals her real name

Home & Away cast hookups EXPOSED

Home & Away cast hookups EXPOSED

 Inside Home & Away stars' Summer Bay return

Inside Home & Away stars' Summer Bay return

{headline}

{headline}

 SPOILER ALERT: Home and Away’s explosive 2021 season

SPOILER ALERT: Home and Away’s explosive 2021 season

EXCLUSIVE: Penny McNamee shares rare insight into her private life

EXCLUSIVE: Penny McNamee shares rare insight into her private life

Closer each day! Home and Away’s real-life mums revealed

Closer each day! Home and Away’s real-life mums revealed

Rebecca Breed’s tribute to Luke Mitchell on major milestone

Rebecca Breed’s tribute to Luke Mitchell on major milestone

Home and Away star's SHOCK transformation

Home and Away star's SHOCK transformation

Cameron Daddo's surprise return to Home and Away

Cameron Daddo's surprise return to Home and Away

Inside Home and Away star Penny McNamee's "settled and content" love life

Inside Home and Away star Penny McNamee's "settled and content" love life

  1. Home
  2. Celebrity

Johnny Ruffo: the truth about my cancer battle

The Home and Away favourite opens up about the fight of his life. - by Lisa B
  • 01 Sep 2017
Johnny Ruffo: the truth about my cancer battle

The pain was intense, excruciating. With unbearable pressure building inside his brain, Johnny Ruffo felt as if someone was holding a blowtorch to his head.

The X Factor’s happy-go- lucky favourite went to casualty thinking he had a migraine, but CT and MRI scans revealed the terrifying truth. There was a 7cm tumour in the right frontal lobe of his brain – it turned out to be cancerous – and Johnny would die unless he had emergency surgery to remove it.

For the first two days after the operation Johnny, 29, was incoherent. ‘I was talking garbage, even worse than usual,’ he laughs. 'Within days I was back to being myself again. I felt a lot better, lighter. I was confident, I was just sure it was all fine. The tumour was going to be benign, no problem.’

View Profile
26.9k likes - View Post on Instagram
Instagram post by Johnny Ruffo * Aug 10, 2017 at 12:11am UTC

A week later, however, the family was devastated to discover their optimism was misplaced. The growth was a malignant stage three oligodendroglioma – a rare cancer affecting only about three per cent of brain tumour patients, according to Cancer Research UK.

'There was a lot of medical jargon, but by all accounts this responds really well to radiotherapy and chemo so they are pretty confident they can beat it, which is good news,' explains Johnny.

He’s scheduled for radiotherapy five days a week for six weeks - 30 treatments in all.

johnny_ruffo View Profile
17.3k likes - View Post on Instagram
Thank you to everyone for all the support over the last week, off to the docs with my mums 😂 keeping positive ✨

After the radiotherapy, he will have a four-week break while his progress is assessed. Then he will most likely have six months of chemotherapy.

‘Hopefully, I’ll be home and hosed after that,’ he says, snuggling up to his girlfriend Tahnee at the couple’s cosy unit in Sydney’s inner west.

See the full story in this week's issue of New Idea, on sale now.

New Idea
  • Celebrity
  • Home & Away

Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!-SAVE 79%

Subscribe to New Idea today

Subscribe Now
Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!

Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!-SAVE 79%

Subscribe to New Idea today

Subscribe Now
Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!

Recommended to you

Home and Away opening title
Watch 1:09

Home and Away opening title

{headline}

{headline}

Johnny Ruffo opens up about 10 year battle with depression

Johnny Ruffo opens up about 10 year battle with depression

‘Blows my mind’: Johnny Ruffo’s girlfriend Tahnee Sims on brain tumour battle

Johnny Ruffo: 'I was hours from death'

Bridie Carter: 'I've moved to The Bay!'

Bridie Carter: 'I've moved to The Bay!'

{headline}

{headline}

Pia Miller FINALLY reveals her real name

Pia Miller FINALLY reveals her real name

Home & Away cast hookups EXPOSED

Home & Away cast hookups EXPOSED

 Inside Home & Away stars' Summer Bay return

Inside Home & Away stars' Summer Bay return

{headline}

{headline}

 SPOILER ALERT: Home and Away’s explosive 2021 season

SPOILER ALERT: Home and Away’s explosive 2021 season

EXCLUSIVE: Penny McNamee shares rare insight into her private life

EXCLUSIVE: Penny McNamee shares rare insight into her private life

Closer each day! Home and Away’s real-life mums revealed

Closer each day! Home and Away’s real-life mums revealed

Rebecca Breed’s tribute to Luke Mitchell on major milestone

Rebecca Breed’s tribute to Luke Mitchell on major milestone

Home and Away star's SHOCK transformation

Home and Away star's SHOCK transformation

Cameron Daddo's surprise return to Home and Away

Cameron Daddo's surprise return to Home and Away

Inside Home and Away star Penny McNamee's "settled and content" love life

Inside Home and Away star Penny McNamee's "settled and content" love life

NewIdea
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Competitions
NewIdea Magazine Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Competitions

Brands

  • Girlfriend
  • New Idea food
  • Practical Parenting
  • That’s Life
  • Who

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • Perth Now
  • The West Australian
  • 7Plus
  • Airtasker
  • 7NEWS
  • SocietyOne
  • Health Engine
  • Starts at 60
© 2021 Are Media PTY LTD
Get more from New Idea

Magazine Subscription Offer

Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!-SAVE 79%

Shop This Offer
Just $6 for 6 issues delivered!