The infamous Melbourne criminal, serial jail occupant turned novelist/painter Mark “Chopper” Read has been diagnosed with liver cancer and may have just weeks to live, according to reports.
The news broke when Chopper announced via Twitter: “Sorry I haven’t been tweeting of late. Have been spending a bit of time in hospital for my liver… Looks like the big C has finally bitten. Let’s see how we go…”
Read told the Herald Sun he has been given a worst-case diagnosis of just weeks to live. Another doctor said he could last up to six years, but all agree he is at the end of the line.
The life of the underworld figure was embedded into the greater Australian psyche through the extraordinary biopic Chopper starring Eric Bana in his breakthrough role as the titular anti-hero. The film’s portrayal of Chopper as a charismatic and weirdly likable psychopath turned him into a minor celebrity, to the extent that he became the subject of regular spoofs on a terrible Australian sketch comedy show, roight?
