Sally

It was a case of life imitating art when Coronation Street icon Sally Dynevor discovered she had breast cancer.

Sally was filming heartbreaking scenes for the soap about her much-loved character Sally Metcalfe reeling from the news that she had breast cancer, the most common type of cancer in the UK.

The storyline, screened in November 2009, prompted Sally to see a nurse at ITV and to get checked after she found a small lump in her breast which felt like a grain of rice.

She said: "It was a bit of shock and I couldn't believe life was imitating art.

"I don't think that if I was doing that storyline I would have had it checked. I'm quite healthy and active.

"We were working on the storyline and one afternoon I decided to go to the nurse who worked at ITV.
"I didn't think it was anything, it felt like a tiny little disc, but within 24 hours I found I had breast cancer.

"I had noticed the lump for probably about two or three months and it wasn't even a lump, it felt like a little piece of rice under the skin which was harder than the rest of the breast tissue."

Sally, 56, from Middleton, underwent treatment at The Christie and after a six-month break she returned to the ITV soap.

She has since been told that her own story prompted others to get checked.
On the Corrie set Change and Check stickers in the changing rooms and toilets, as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign launched by TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, remind the cast and crew to check for symptoms of breast cancer such as lumps, rashes and dimpling and urge them to see a doctor or nurse if they become aware of any irregularities.

And Sally, who has played Sally Metcalfe, formerly Webster and Seddon, since 1986, says she continues to regularly check herself.

"Raising breast cancer awareness is crucial," she said.

"Only yesterday I found out a very close friend of mine has breast cancer. It's an epidemic and we need to address the reasons why.

"I few people checked when they heard my story and found out they had it. It's feeling quite common and it's worrying."

Sally, a long-standing patron of the Manchester-based charity Prevent Breast Cancer, is supporting its month-long BreastFest campaign, which will spread awareness in October with help from its bee mascot BooBee to make Greater Manchester the most breast aware region in the UK.