Samuel Johnson on his sister’s harrowing lifelong battle with cancer: ‘She took all the bullets for me’

Samuel Johnson opens up about his family’s harrowing experience with cancer and how the disease has left a lasting impact on his life.

Samuel Johnson bravely opens up about his sister’s tragic death in new SBS series The Hospital: In the Deep End.

In the heart-wrenching series, Johnson visits an onconology ward that sparks him to open up about his own tragic personal experience with cancer.

He developed a phobia of hospitals after his sister first experienced cancer when they were kids.

She suffered from bone cancer at age 11, uterine cancer at age 22 and finally breast cancer at age 33.

Samuel Johnson tragically lost his sister to cancer, but he’s determined for her legacy to live on. Picture: SBS.

“Dad and Connie came home in dad’s blue Torana, and I knew something was up,” shares Johnson on how he first learned that something was wrong with his beloved sister. “Dad said: ‘She’s got a tumour.’ And I didn’t know what a tumour was. Then gradually, I learned that it was cancer. She got cancer when she was 11 in her leg, when she was 22 in her womb and when she was 33 in her breast. And then it spread and she died, with two young kids.

He continued: “So I don’t remember my sister not having cancer. She’s my dear sister who copped all the bullets and for some reason I’m scot-free so far.”

Johnson founded the Love Your Sister charity in 2012 with his sister, aiming to raise $10 million for cancer research. At the time of her death the charity had raised almost $6 million.

After the clip from the SBS series was shared to Facebook, fans shared an outpouring of love and admiration for the star and the touching journey he’s been on.

Johnson shares more of his personal life story in SBS's new documentary series. Picture: SBS.

“He is a legend right!!! The dedication he has to spread the word is incredible,” wrote one. “Will be a hard watch but Sam I will watch it because you have put yourself out there yet again. Thank you.”

Another viewer commented: “The show is awesome and so beautifully handled with such sensitive subjects. Samuel is obviously a lovely and sensitive man. I can see the show getting an award – well done to all concerned.”

Johnson’s sister’s tragic passing in 2017 came just one day after being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

“We lost Connie today. Or, as she asked me to say, she died of cancer today. It was so beautiful. We laughed, we cried, we sang stupid songs from our childhood to her, which she loved (mostly!),” Johnson wrote on Facebook at the time.

“I read her so many village messages, which she relished. She went so richly, and with such grace. Trust me, she was genuinely cushioned by your love, till the end.”

In The Hospital, Johnson is also joined by Melissa Leong and Costa Georgiadis, with the three Australian icons thrown out of their comfort zones and on to ground zero at one of the countries busiest hospitals, St Vincent’s Sydney.

The first episode of The Hospital: In The Deep End is available to stream now on SBS On Demand. The three-part series airs weekly, with episode two premiering on SBS and SBS On Demand this Thursday (June 13) and episode three premiering on Thursday June 20.

Originally published as Samuel Johnson on his sister’s harrowing lifelong battle with cancer: ‘She took all the bullets for me’