Actor James Stewart has been rallying behind his Home And Away pal Johnny Ruffo throughout his brain cancer recovery.
James shared a sweet snap of the two of them earlier today, writing: “Sooo much love. The big man, Johnny Ruffo.”
Over the weekend, Johnny made his first red carpet appearance since news broke of his brain tumour.
The 29-year-old, who formerly played Chris Harrington on Home And Away, was accompanied by his girlfriend Tahnee Sims at a Save Our Sons charity gala, raising money for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The singer couldn’t wipe the smile of his face all night!
Tahnee has been by his side throughout Johnny’s whole ordeal.
Speaking to Nova FM’s Fitzy and Wippa recently, Johnny recalled the moment he knew something was wrong with his health: “My head was throbbing, it felt like a fire was burning inside,” he said. “I was slurring my words so we went to hospital and doctors put me on a drip.”
Doctors ran tests throughout the night, and the diagnosis was a scary shock.
“Around 8am the next day, they called her [Tahnee] and said you need to get down here immediately because Johnny has a brain tumour. She was in absolute tears,” Johnny said. “By this stage, I had slowly slipped into a coma and needed emergency surgery.”
“The tumour was 7cm big – it was huge,” he continued. “The neurosurgeon said it could’ve been growing anywhere from two to 10 years.”
Surgery removed 95% of the tumour and now Johnny will undergo radiotherapy to remove the remaining 5%, followed by six months of chemotherapy.
We’re wishing Johnny a speedy recovery!