ACTOR DANNIELLA WESTBROOK has revealed that she has cancer of the womb.
The former Eastenders star said she had symptoms for over a year before her recent diagnosis.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, she said she plans to undergo a hysterectomy next month.
Westbrook (44) said she thought of her late friend Jade Goody when she received the diagnosis. Goody died from cervical cancer in 2009 when she was just 27 years old.
“I’ve always said I am not scared of dying. But when the doctor said, ‘You have cancer’, straight away my thoughts turned to Jade and that I don’t want to die. I know I need to fight.”
The mother-of-two has struggled with substance abuse issues in the past and previously attempted to take her own life. She said receiving the cancer diagnosis “made me realise I don’t want to die”.
I want to live and sort out my health. I know I have to fight, I know I have to get up and battle it.
Westbrook’s mother was diagnosed with womb cancer almost 30 years ago and survived after receiving treatment.
‘Hopeful’
“The doctors say they believe it is containable so I’m hopeful. My mum had the same cancer when I was 15. I’m 44 now and she is still here,” Westbrook said.
The actor, who played Samantha Mitchell in Eastenders, said she wanted to speak out to encourage more women to have smear tests – something she had not done for years.
Westbrook first joined the cast of the soap in 1990 and featured on the programme on and off until 2016.
She also appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2003, Dancing On Ice in 2010 and Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.
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