Casualty’s Simon: I’ve got incurable cancer

When Simon MacCorkindale suddenly left TV’s Casualty no one suspected that he was keeping a tragic secret: he had cancer and had been given just five years to live. Now, in this raw and inspiring interview, he and his wife Susan George reveal their daily battle to be strong – and prove doctors wrong

FOR more than three years, he kept it a secret even from his closest friends. Former Casualty star Simon MacCorkindale, who played handsome consultant Harry Harper in the popular BBC series, told very few he was battling cancer.  Even after the disease had spread to his lungs and doctors gave him just five years to live, he and his wife, the iconic Seventies actress Susan George, decided they did not want everyone to know.

‘I didn’t want to make a fuss,’ says Simon. ‘We are very private people and wanted to deal with it on our own.’

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Casualty star Simon MacCorkindale has spoken for the first time about the moment he became a hit-and-run driver, abandoning a seriously injured cyclist in a remote country lane.

The 55-year-old actor, who plays consultant Harry Harper in the BBC hospital drama, hit John Lilley in a narrow lane near Taunton, Somerset, in 2005.

But instead of stopping to help, he made the split-second decision to continue on to Casualty rehearsals in Bristol.

Half an hour later, his conscience got the better of him and he called an ambulance to the scene.

MacCorkindale then drove to a police station to report the accident.

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