BBC Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker has opened up on being told to “prepare to die at any moment” by doctors.
The presenter was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis twenty years ago. Having worked at the BBC since 1969, where he has been with Radio 2 since 1998 hosting Sounds of the 70s and The Radio 2 Rock Show, Walker is now presenting his shows from his home in Dorset. He is currently being looked after full-time by his wife, Tiggy.
Now, in honour of Carers Week, the Walkers have shared details about their life on their podcast Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy. There, Johnnie opened up about having “only a finite amount of time left here in the physical before I pass over”, calling it “a very reflective time for us”.
Tiggy recalled how the couple were once told by a consultant that Johnny should “prepare to go at any moment”, although they also apparently added: “Equally, you might be around for six months.”
She then reflected that she “internally thought, ‘Oh my goodness, how can I keep up this level of caring for six months?’ Because it’s just about my own energy. Caring is hard”.
BBC Radio disc jockey Johnnie Walker in a radio studio, UK, 23rd November 1971. (Photo by P. Floyd/Daily Express/Getty Images)
Johnnie went on to acknowledge how Tiggy “very lovingly helps me get into bed and gives me a nice kiss good night, and then she has to wonder whether I’m still going to be alive in the morning, which must be pretty hard for her”.
“You definitely saved my life when I went through cancer,” he continued, adding: “I’m positive I wouldn’t have made it without you. Your love was just so sustaining, it gave me so much to look forward to. And your caring for me now makes my life so much better.”
Meanwhile, Tiggy also spoke about the help she needed in “grieving” the life they had together, saying: “It’s only by going to the doctors and going on antidepressants that I have kept going because I was crying every single day and I was overwhelmed.”
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