Britain’s Got Talent contestant Allan Finnegan diagnosed with rare cancer as he’s given 12 months to live
BRITAIN's Got Talent star Allan Finnegan has been given 12 months to live after being diagnosed with a rare eye cancer two years ago.
The stand-up comedian, who reached the semi-finals of the talent contest in 2020, has revealed his devastating prognosis in order to raise funds for a treatement that is not available on the NHS.
The Baptist minister, 56, told the Liverpool Echo: "I got diagnosed with eye cancer two years ago in December, which I'd never heard of. I was treated just after Christmas that year.
"It went well but the biopsy looked at my genes - if you’ve got a certain type of gene, there’s quite a high chance of cancer returning, and when it does, it usually is in the liver.
"Then in December last year, something showed up. I had to go back. It confirmed it had spread. I went to a consultant just after Christmas. He confirmed it was untreatable."
The star has been living with diabetes, and was alerted to the tumours because he undergoes regular check-ups for his eyes.
He said: "Just before the check-up, the vision in my left eye started going slightly darker and I started seeing flashes.
"I mentioned it but they originally found something in my right eye. I kept saying there’s something in my left eye."
He was later diagnosed at St Paul’s Eye Hospital with ocular melanoma, an extremely rare form of cancer.
Allan said his wife Joyce, and daughters Beccy and Rachael, have been devastated by the news.
"Watching my wife and kids cry, seeing other people cry, that makes me more emotional," he added.