Rory Cellan-Jones shares health update in new interview about his Romanian rescue dog Sophie

Ex-BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones has shared a health update in a new interview about his year-long adventure with Sophie, his rescue dog from Romania.

The BBC’s former technology correspondent said his Parkinson’s has ‘gotten quite a bit worse in the last year’ while adding that Sophie has been a ‘great support’ for him.

Promoting his new book, Rory, 66, from west London, told BBC Breakfast viewers on Wednesday that Sophie From Romania is ‘also very much the story of my Parkinson’s’.

The broadcaster, who first revealed his diagnosis in 2019, explained: ‘She was going to be part of my exercise regime, exercise is really important for Parkinson’s.

‘I used to go out with our old dog, Cabbage, seven o’ clock, rain or shine every day and I was counting on doing the same with Sophie, and it didn’t happen for a year.

But she has been a great thing to focus on. we’ve both got problems, we know about her problems.

‘I’ve got a progressive condition which has gotten quite a bit worse in the last year, and she is something wonderful to focus on. She’s a great support, she doesn’t know it, but she is,’ he added.

Sophie was living on a barn in Romania for a year before Cellan-Jones and his wife, Diane Coyle, decided to adopt her.

When she arrived at their west London home just before Christmas 2022, frightened and tired from her 72-hour journey, Sophie hid behind their sofa. It would be a year before Cellan-Jones and Sophie would have their first walk together.