Soap stalwart Sally Dynevor, 57, has opened up on how working during her battle with breast cancer was a “beacon” during bleak times. Her diagnosis came just after her Coronation Street character Sally Metcalfe (then Webster) also found out she had the illness.
“Corrie was a beacon actually,” she said, in a recent interview.
“I realised how important my work is to me and I was desperate to get back, because as soon as I got back to work, I could try to put it behind me, which I think I have done.”
Sally and her on-screen alter-ego were both diagnosed with the relentless disease in 2009 and they have now both fully recovered.
The ITV storyline made her more aware of the illness and encouraged her to get her own examination where she was told the devastating news.
She took six months off to get treatment and underwent surgery after the cancer spread to her lymph nodes.
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She continued to tell The Sunday Mirror: “I’ve got a few things that run through my mind occasionally about that time in my life, but generally I think I’ve put it to bed and work has really helped me on that.”
Last year, the actress admitted she “feared” the cancer would return.
Still not coming to terms at this point that it had happened to her she said: “I’ve locked it away and shoved it to the back of my mind, probably for self-preservation.
She was weeks away from celebrating her tenth anniversary of being cancer free with a climb up Mount Everest and stated she would do her best to let go of any feelings she’d boxed away.
Sinead (played by Katie McGlynn) died in December 2019 of cervical cancer, leaving ITV viewers distraught as the emotional scenes played out.
“10 years on I still find it hard to talk about it. I try to forget I had breast cancer,” she recalled.
Sally confessed she never wanted to be “labelled’ as a cancer patient but now acknowledges how her experience may help others.
“More recently I’ve realised I do need to talk about my experience because it helps raise awareness and lets others know they’re not alone,” she told OK! Magazine.