EXCLUSIVE: Good news for Walker as legendary F1 commentator is told he does not require chemotherapy



Just two days after Murray Walker spoke to Sportsmail about his fight against cancer, we can reveal that the incomparable voice of Formula One has received an ‘unbelievably’ positive medical bulletin on his condition.



Walker, 89, was expecting to undergo six monthly bouts of chemotherapy after a series of tests revealed he was suffering from lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. The diagnosis was made at a hospital in Salisbury following a fall that broke his pelvis in two places while he and Elizabeth, his wife of 53 years, were on holiday in Germany in May.

Life in the fast lane: Legendary Formula One broadcaster Murray Walker in good spirits at home

But last night Walker told me: ‘There is great news from my selfish point of view. I went to have my pre-chemotherapy blood check this week and was understandably delighted when they said, “Your blood condition has improved so much that it is now nearly normal and you do not need the chemotherapy – well not now, anyway.”



‘The theory is that I had a substantial internal blood loss when I fell and fractured my pelvis, which, in turn, caused the anaemic condition. Since then my body has apparently been quietly putting things right in the weird and wonderful way these things happen.

Fans' favourite: Walker was inundated with good wishes after his illness was revealed



‘Now I’m going to be having regular checks to monitor my condition. If it deteriorates I will have to have the chemo, but if it doesn’t I won’t. So although I am not completely out of the woods, I can certainly see the sunlit meadows ahead!’



As one of British television’s most loved figures, Walker was flooded with messages of goodwill once the original prognosis was reached. He is now embarrassed by all the attention his illness attracted.

Rolling back the years: Walker, pictured with Johnny Herbert in 2005, doesn't need to undertake chemotherapy



Speaking from his home in the New Forest, he said: ‘I feel a bit of a fraud, having generated all the publicity and an outpouring of much appreciated sympathy from literally all over the world about something that hasn’t happened and which might not happen during my obviously limited life span, at nearly 90!



‘In mitigation I have to say that when I was diagnosed my feeling was that the news was bound to come out and the best thing I could do was to announce it openly and get it all over.’

Out of the frame: Walker, the 'voice of Formula One' hung up the microphone in 2001

Walker, a tank commander in the Second World War, is now determined to return to his local gym to stay remarkably fit for a man who enters his 10th decade in October. He remains busy, writing in the motor-racing Press and doing occasional work for his long-time employees, the BBC.

