Rabbitohs legend Nathan Merritt has revealed he doesn’t know how long he has left to live after being diagnosed with two forms of stage 4 cancer.
The 42-year-old received both an oesophageal and liver cancer diagnosis within four months of each other.
The father-of-five, who has children aged between 11 and 21, was first diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in November after having pain in his stomach before being given a fresh diagnosis in February.
The Bunnies icon said it was tough news for his family to take, but vowed to fight until the end.
“I’ve been diagnosed with stage four cancer – oesophagus and liver cancer,” Merritt revealed to Daily Mail Australia.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow for my kids and family. But it’s good – it’s going to be a tough one, but I’m going to fight through it.”
Merritt says he only found out a few weeks ago that the cancer was stage 4 and said it’s a matter of staying alive as long as possible.
“All of this treatment is now just about trying to maintain it with chemo, and doing my best to stay alive as long as possible,” Merritt said.
It’s been a tough few years for the Souths legend, who was placed on life support after collapsing due to an adverse reaction to prescribed pain medication on October 6, 2023.
More recently, he was involved in a Sydney pub brawl in February last year that saw him bloodied and knocked to the ground. He later plead guilty to once count of affray.
Merritt was also fined $1,500 after he blew more than three times the legal limit while behind the wheel, resulting in him spending a night behind bars in April last year.
Merritt retired in 2014 as one of the most popular players the club has fielded since the turn of the century.
The prolific try scorer ended his 237-game NRL career with 154 tries.
He is among the club’s most celebrated figures after breaking Benny Wearing’s 81-year-old try-scoring record at the club.
The former NRL winger was the league’s leading tryscorer for three seasons and was only the 9th player in the history of the sport to score 150 total tries.
Merritt made two appearances for the PM’s XIII and scored two tries as well as three games for the Indigenous All-Stars.
Originally published as ‘Stay alive as long as possible’: Nathan Merritt’s sad revelation after sudden cancer diagnosis