Jeremy Finlayson and wife Kellie's huge milestone after cancer update (2024)

Life has been an ongoing battle in the Finlayson home for years, but the family found plenty of reasons to smile on the weekend as they notched up a significant milestone.

Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson and his wife Kellie shared gorgeous images and video of their birthday celebrations with daughter Sophia, who turned three.

While their daughter has given them three years of joy, it has also been three years of uncertainty, fear and pain for the Finlayson family after Kellie was diagnosed with stage-four bowel and lung cancershortly after Sophia was born.

That diagnosis is usually terminal.

The family has battled on bravely in the public eye and the joy was evident for all in attendance as they could just forget about treatment, hospitals and specialists for a day to enjoy seeing the smile on their little girl's face.

The smiles for Sophia masked the pain the Finlayson family continues to battle, with Kellie making a heartbreaking revelation on social media last week as she announced that she has restarted chemotherapy.

It has been a rollercoaster for the Finlayson family, who had to make a public statement in 2023 after media reports incorrectly declared Kellie was 'cancer free'.

'Unfortunately, some media outlets chose to share another narrative off the back of this interview, taking the best snippets of information and making it sound as if I was miraculously cured and cancer-free. This is absolutely not the case,' Kellie said in a statement at the time.

Kellie started a fresh six-month round of chemotherapy in January this year, but then made the shock announcement she was going to rely on natural treatments in May.

Last week, she announced that she would likely have to re-commence both chemotherapy and radiation to fight for her life once more.

'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,' she said in TikTok video.

'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.'

Finlayson has previously spoken about the toll their battle has taken on the family and on 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.'

It comes as Finlayson prepares for a premiership tilt with Port Adelaide with the Power looking to cement their place in the top two this weekend against a desperate Fremantle.

The Dockers were spat out of the top eight after a tough loss to the GWS Giants and will need to beat Port Adelaide to have any chance of playing finals.

Making the assignment potentially tougher for the power is the fact that might be without star Dan Houston, who was referred straight to the AFL tribunal over a high bump on Adelaide Crow's star Izak Rankine.

Houston faces the prospect of three or more matches on the sidelines.

It not only puts his participation in Port's finals campaign in serious doubt, but means he may not play for the Power again.

The 27-year-old, who is contracted until the end of 2027, is reportedly considering a move home to Victoria.

Port Adelaide Power