Trevor Sorbie opens up about devastating health update
Legendary hairdresser Trevor Sorbie MBE today revealed that despite the news of his cancer spreading and health deteriorating, he’s determined to stay positive until the end.
Explaining the current situation of his health and prognosis, Trevor said, “My wife Carole can take you through the process because my memory bank is not that great…”
Carole said, “Well we got the news back in June that he only really has a few months, maybe only six months and we were both in a bit of denial at that point and then he had the last scan in September and that’s when we realised that no treatment is going to work.”
Trevor added, “I lost a lot of blood one night and I was unusually disturbed about that. I went to the hospital and they told me I had bowel cancer. I had a little panic attack and Carole and I looked at eachother and we were just both speechless walking down the road… I didn’t know what to say. I went and had a big gin and tonic and that helped! But then it spread to my liver, I had a six hour operation, but it came back to my liver, had another operation, and now the major [growth] they won't cut it out because it’s too close to a major blood vessel.”
Before adding, “But the thing is with me, I never wake up thinking, ‘Oh poor me, I’ve got cancer’ or feel sorry for myself, I know I've got it here [points to stomach] but I haven’t got it here [point to head] and I’ve been going to work two days a week, up until two weeks ago.
“I go there because that’s my medicine, that is my life. Sixty years I’ve worked passionately to achieve beyond my wildest dreams and when I go in, it's my staff. I've had them for up to 30 years, they are like family, I’m just one of the team. I had a nurse access me and I said, ‘Will I make Christmas?’ and she said, ‘I don’t know Trevor’ and I said ‘I damn well will!”
Speaking of how she’s feeling, his wife Carole said, “It’s totally overwhelming most days, but I get my strength through this man - he’s guiding me through a good death - living a good life and dying a good death - and up until then I hadn’t through about that, but what we do every day now is show thanks for every day that we have and wake up together and it’s all the simple things. Our little dog is pure medicine, we have a wonderful family, and we are supported by the whole Trevor Sorbie family… and we are all being guided by Trevor.”
Looking back on his incredible career Trevor smiled and revealed how he didn’t plan to be a hairdresser originally. He said, “I wanted to be an artist! But I got bullied at school and my dad was a barber, and he said come into the salon… and I found hairdressing easy! I was cutting people’s hair within three months, so I was still quite creative.”
As a final piece of advice for viewers watching, Trevor said, “The brain rules the body - the heart play a big part as well - but that [the brain] is the engine room and because I’ve got a charity and have helped many women through cancer by cutting wigs for them and doing that, people handle it in different ways, there is no right or wrong way.
I believe the mind is stronger than any other function… doctors have even said ‘Trevor, you’re breaking medical science, you shouldn’t be here right now’.”