BBC star Finnian Garbutt has launched a fundraiser to take care of his wife and child after his death, after confirming he is now in the “last stages” of a cancer battle. The Hope Street actor, who is just 28 years old, shot into the spotlight playing PC Ryan Power in the Irish drama. He was sadly diagnosed with stage 3 skin cancer, which spread to his neck.
After confirming the news on social media, he followed up with a new post today (March 4), telling fans: “Thank you everyone for the outpouring of support these last few days. I cannot believe how many people across the world have reached out and offered beautiful encouragement in this really difficult time. I am not posting this for sympathy and do not want anyone to donate if they cannot afford to.
“All I want is my wife and little baby to have the life they deserve and I wanted to be the one that provided that, which now is unfortunately no longer possible.
“Any donations will go a long way in supporting my wife and baby as they navigate life without me and supporting Saoirse's future, whilst also keeping them safe and secure in our home."
At time of writing, the fundraiser has raised £18,743 of its £28,000 goal.
Casualty star Finnian discovered a lump behind his ear four years ago, which grew substantially. He underwent a 12-hour surgery to have 75 lymph nodes removed, but the cancer “progressed rapidly”.
He explained in an update: “Over the last month or so I’ve been having quite a bit of pain in my back and hip. My cancer team admitted me the other day for observations and to do a few scans.
Ensure our latest showbiz headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. **Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
“Unfortunately the scans have shown that the cancer has progressed rapidly in my body and I am now entering the last stages of life.
“I’m putting this out there as it is really difficult to tell people individually and I hope now that it’s in the open I can enjoy the time with my amazing family and friends.”
He added: “Since being diagnosed four years ago I have achieved so many of my life goals – 30 episodes on a TV show, being the lead in a movie that should be out soon, buying my own house marrying my best friend and becoming a father to the most incredible baby girl who never fails to make me smile.”
He previously told Belfast Live: “I had already come to terms with the fact that I was going to die young. My defence mechanism was to expect the worst. I thought it was only going to be a matter of time.”
