Fans, moved by McGranger’s tribute, flooded social media with their own loving messages, celebrating Ruffo’s life. Source: Getty Images.
In honour of what would have been Johnny Ruffo’s 37th birthday, his close friend and Home and Away co-star, Lynne McGranger, shared a heartfelt birthday message.
Ruffo sadly passed away at the age of 35 on Friday, November 10, 2023 after a long battle with brain cancer, triggering an outpouring of grief from fans and those close to him.
On Saturday, March 8, McGranger took to social media to wish her late friend a “happy heavenly birthday.”
“Hope you’re smiling down on us and kicking up a storm with the angels. Love and miss you lots Johnny,” she wrote.
Fans, moved by McGranger’s tribute, flooded social media with their own loving messages, celebrating Ruffo’s life.
“Gone far too soon bless him,” one wrote.
“I loved your relationship with Johnny, on and off the show. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Johnny.”
“Gone but never forgotten,” commented another.
“Bless his heart.”
Ruffo’s tragic health battle began when he was first diagnosed with brain cancer back in 2017 when what he believed to be a migraine turned out to be a very serious brain tumour.
Speaking with Who Magazine’s podcast Who Are You back in 2018, Ruffo recalled the terrifying ordeal, revealing that his girlfriend saved his life by rushing him to the hospital after he complained of a painful migraine.
She received devastating news the next morning after doctors revealed that Ruffo had slipped into a coma due to a fist-sized tumour in his brain, which may have been growing for up to 10 years.
“The doctor said, ‘If you didn’t come in [to the hospital], you would have gone to sleep and you would have been dead’,” Ruffo said at the time.
“Basically [the tumour was] the size of my fist in my frontal lobe, so all that pressure was being put on my brain, which explains the severe headaches and blackouts.”
After successfully removing the tumour in 2017, Ruffo devastated fans when he penned a heartbreaking post announcing his brain cancer had returned in 2020.
Ruffo regularly kept fans updated with his health battle via social media, providing them with insights on his second bout with brain cancer.
