Terminally ill BBC star Finnian Garbutt, 28, reveals he’s in a hospice bed
A BBC star has revealed he’s in a hospice bed just weeks after revealing he is battling terminal cancer and “entering the last stages”.
The actor, who stars on crime drama Hope Street, made his heartbreaking reveal in a message to fans and supporters on Instagram.
Finnian Garbutt, who plays Ryan Power in the Northern Irish based show, revealed the sad update today.
Posting a picture of himself in a hospice bed, he wrote: “A day in bed supplied by @nihospice.
“Thank you that have supported me and my family. (sic) I will no longer be sharing my GoFundMe page, but it is still active in bio.
“Love you all folks.”
Earlier this month he shared with fans how his cancer had “progressed rapidly”.
He was diagnosed at the age of 25 after finding a lump behind his ear, which he initially assumed was an ingrown hair.
After his barber told him it had grown “quite substantially”, he received the devastating health verdict and in 2022, learned the skin cancer was Stage 3 and had spread into his neck.
He then had 75 lymph nodes removed from his face and neck in a gruelling 12-hour surgery.
The BBC star has told how he has made his health update public so he can enjoy special moments with his “amazing” loved ones.
In a text post written on a blue background earlier this month, he wrote: “Hey all.
“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.
“Unfortunately the scans have shown that the cancer has progressed rapidly in my body and I am now entering the last stages of life”.
Finnian continued: “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.
“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 concluded with the words: “Thank you to all that have reached out over the years and supported me and my family.
“If anyone wants to meet up for a pint, coffee or general bit of craic please reach out and we can try to make it work.
“Love as always Finnian”.
Finnian plays a constable in the hit BBC series, which has spanned five seasons.
He previously opened up to Belfast Live about how his world had come “crashing down” after the diagnosis.
He said: “It was almost as if they accidentally had diagnosed me with cancer and were treating me by mistake.
“I was told I could die; my plastic surgeons had warned me about how ill I could be following surgery.
“It kept being communicated to me that I was really sick, that I was one step away from being a terminal patient.
“I was just waiting to hear that I had tumours elsewhere throughout my body.
“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.”
