Jeremy and Kellie Finlayson make tough move amid cancer fight

Jeremy and Kellie Finlayson have been forced to make a difficult decision for their young family amid her ongoing cancer fight.

Kellie and Jeremy Finlayson with their daughter Sophia in their Hendon home they are selling. Picture: Mark Brake

Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson and his wife Kellie have been forced to make a devastating decision amid her ongoing battle with cancer.

Kellie Finlayson, 28, was first diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer back in 2021, three months after giving birth to the couple’s daughter, Sophia.

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She has fought a courageous and public battle with the disease, revealing in late July this year her tumour had started growing.

The disease went on to metastasise in her lungs after her diagnosis but, until recently, scans had shown her tumour as being stable.

In an emotional video shared to her Instagram followers, however, Kellie revealed that was no longer the case.

Kellie and Jeremy Finlayson with their daughter Sophia in their Hendon home they are selling. Picture: Mark Brake

The couple showing off the property’s huge backyard. Picture: Mark Brake

“So, um, not great news, but not the worst news either, I guess,” she said.

“Unfortunately, with cancer, especially relapsed cancer, it grows really fast.

“So once we see not even quite a millimetre of growth in a scan over a couple of months, we know that that means it’s growing and that means we have to act on it.”

Amid the family’s ongoing battle, they have now decided to sell their “forever home” as they prepare for the next stage of Kellie’s health treatment.

The couple bought a beautiful property in Hendon, Adelaide, in May 2022, in close proximity to Jeremy’s Port Adelaide footy club.

With hardwood floors, ornate features and a huge backyard, it was the ideal property for a young family.

“I really wanted a heritage home, like a villa with hardwood floors, and this one was in really good condition,” Kellie told Adelaide Now.

“It’s got the world’s biggest backyard, and we wanted to extend, but with my health that didn’t happen.”

Unfortunately, the progression of Kellie’s illness means the couple need a house with more space for in-home care, including room for “equipment and machinery”.

So they made the tough decision to sell up and find a rental property.

“This was to be our forever home, but I guess life had other plans,” Kellie said.

Adding to the family’s troubles, Jeremy suffered a lacerated spleen in a collision during the Power’s clash with the Gold Coast on July 14.

The 28-year-old avoided surgery, but the incident sadly ended his 2024 campaign, with Port sitting second and among the premiership favourites heading into September.

It meant Kellie had to turn carer for Jeremy before she got her own devastating update.

“So normally I walk out of a meeting with my oncologist and he tells me that we’re happy to watch and wait. Not the case today,” podcaster Kellie said in the video she released in July.

Jeremy Finlayson’s 2024 season is over due to injury. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“I am off to see a surgeon next week and a radiotherapist also just to get all of my options before potentially starting chemotherapy again.

“I guess I’m one of the lucky ones because we know chemotherapy works really well for me, but any chemotherapy is f**ked and not what I want to be doing.”

While chemotherapy can help stop the spread of Kellie’s cancer, she said “a full cure is unlikely” for her.

Finlayson has been open about how gruelling her past experience with chemotherapy was, describing it in an interview with Mamamia as “the worst time of my life”.

“Nobody knows the extent of treatment and how hard it is unless you’ve done it. Many people keep the pain to themselves, because you don’t want your family to feel guilty,” she said.

Explaining it to her husband was “the hardest thing I ever had to do”, she added.

Originally published as Jeremy and Kellie Finlayson make tough move amid cancer fight