AFL star Jeremy Finlayson and his terminally ill wife Kellie have celebrated selling their home in Adelaide for a price well above their expectations after she revealed a shocking setback in her battle with terminal cancer.
The Port Adelaide star and his influencer wife, both 28, revealed in August that they were selling their house so they could get a place suited to providing Kellie with in-home care.
The social media influencer has been fighting bowel and lung cancer after she was diagnosed in November 2021 following the birth of the couple’s daughter Sophia.
She underwent several surgeries and chemotherapy after her initial stage 3 diagnosis worsened to stage 4.
In July, she confirmed the sad news that she would have to resume chemotherapy to quickly get on top of the cancer, which had started growing again after she stopped chemo and radiation therapy in favour of natural and alternative treatments.
On Tuesday, the couple sold their home at auction for $915,000, with the bidding starting at $700,000 before climbing quickly.
The home attracted plenty of interest and was eventually sold to a local buyer.
‘The sale price was above Kellie, Jeremy and my expectations,’ said selling agent Rachel Lawrie of Ray White North Adelaide.
Jeremy Finlayson and his terminally ill wife Kellie (pictured with their daughter Sophia) have sold their home in Adelaide at a price far above their expectations
Kellie (pictured) has battled bowel and lung cancer for more than two years and recently revealed the sad news that she has had to resume chemotherapy
The couple bought the house in May 2022 and hoped to make it their home for many years.
‘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, Kellie’s ongoing illness means the couple needs more room for her care and have decided to find a rental property.
‘This was to be our forever home, but I guess life had other plans,’ Kellie said.
In January this year, Kellie stopped her chemotherapy and radiation treatments to put her trust in natural therapies and alternative medicine.
The Finlaysons’ Adelaide home sold at auction on Tuesday for $915,000
The couple had hoped the house would be their home for many years
Sadly, the severity of her cancer battle made that impossible.
‘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 means it’s growing and that means that we have to act on it,’ Kellie said in a video she posted on TikTok.
‘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.
‘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***ed and not what I want to be doing.’
Port Adelaide star Jeremy revealed that the turmoil of the last few years has taken its toll and impacted his football career.
‘I’ve tried to put a brave face on through everything,’ he said.
‘Just looking at how strong Kellie is and just trying to be her rock and just trying to put a smile on her face out on the football ground for her and Soph.’
Kellie has recently started another round of chemo for cancer that spread to her lung
Kellie is hopeful she can manage the illness with treatments that may allow her to survive for many years to come.
‘As long as [the cancer] is being maintained, I feel like I’ve got the potential to have quite a long life. I could see Sophia’s 21st birthday!’ she said.
‘I hope I see her first day of school. That’s still years away, but it’s longer than I anticipated when I first heard the diagnosis.’
