Charlotte Church has revealed that her stepfather James has a terminal illness, and may only have six months to live. In the upcoming Channel 4 documentary, Charlotte Church: My Family and Me, which is set to air on 17 October, the Welsh singer explains her stepdad James, 53, suffers from AL amyloidosis - which is similar to blood cancer. "It's absolutely terrifying the idea of not having him around. I rely on him for so much, he's my buddy, my absolute best friend and has been for years," she shared.
Charlotte Church has revealed her stepdad has a terminal illness
AL amyloidosis (immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis) occurs when a person produces abnormal protein fibres, which will then cause serious damage to organs. Discussing the heartbreaking diagnosis himself, James explained: "Time is not on my side. The disease I have is very rare, only one in eight million people have it. It's called AL amyloidosis. The worst scenario is I could only have six months, so I'm in a horrible position."
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Charlotte, 33, added: "He's on chemotherapy and to be honest he'll be on it until he dies. He's on his third round. He has had breaks because it is tough going but he is strong as an ox." Detailing the family's heartache, she continued: "It's just horrendous that he's got it at this age, he's still a relatively young man. But he will fight this for as long as he can. He's got it quite advanced in his heart because he wasn’t diagnosed for quite a long time, it's not great."
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The mum-of-two was brought up by James; she never knew her real dad. James adopted her and brought her up from when she was three years old with her mother Maria. "With my dad's condition it was important to me that we got to document who we are as a family," said Charlotte. "My relationship with my parents is pretty strong but like a lot of relationships there’s a lot of healing to be done."
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