Comedian Matt Forde has opened up about his diagnosis with a rare form of spinal cancer, describing how facing death gave him a deeper appreciation of life. The 42-year-old was diagnosed 18 months ago after experiencing severe nerve pain in his left leg, which he initially thought was sciatica. An MRI scan revealed a tumour at the base of his spine, later confirmed as a chordoma, a bone cancer affecting only one in 800,000 people.
Forde said the moment he learned he had cancer was clarifying, forcing him to confront his own mortality. He recalled bargaining his remaining time down from ten years to a few weeks and coming to terms with it calmly. 'I felt grateful to have lived and to have followed my passions. I wasn’t afraid of dying,' he wrote. The only sadness was the thought of leaving his wife, whom he had married just months before.
Surgery involved removing the base of his spine, resulting in loss of bowel, bladder and sexual function. Forde said he embraced the procedure, viewing it as preferable to death. He spent ten weeks in hospital recovering, enduring severe nerve pain but finding moments of levity with visiting friends. 'Laughter wasn’t the best medicine, but after morphine it did wonders,' he noted.
Forde has since adjusted to life with a stoma and self-catheterisation, describing the latter as 'loading an old rifle'. He said the changes have not limited his ability to enjoy football matches or pub visits. Reflecting on his experience, he echoed Lauren Laverne’s sentiment that surviving cancer can lead to newfound resilience and love of being alive.
