Sarah, Duchess of York, has spoken of the importance of sharing her experiences of breast cancer as she joined Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor to tour a charity centre.
The duchess visited the Nightingale Centre in Wythenshawe, Manchester, on Wednesday after she was invited to become a patron of the Prevent Breast Cancer charity by Dynevor when they both appeared on Loose Women.
She spoke to staff and patients at the centre before joining Dynevor at work, where she walked along the Corrie cobbles and poured a pint in the Rovers Return.
The duchess underwent an operation last year after she discovered she had an early form of breast cancer during a routine mammogram.
I think a lot of people are frightened to talk
Sarah, Duchess of York
Months later, she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma skin cancer.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper about her cancer treatment, the duchess said she had been told she should not use the phrase “cancer free” but treatment had been successful and tests showed there had been no spread.
The King and the Princess of Wales have also been undergoing cancer treatment this year.
The duchess told the PA news agency she had met “extraordinary” people at the centre and felt it was important to talk about her experiences.
She said: “I think a lot of people are frightened to talk. They’re frightened that they don’t know where to go or what to do.
“Sally is brilliant, and I think if it really helps to talk about it, and it helps more people not be frightened… that’s a good, good job.
“What I noticed today was I had a few private conversations with patients and they couldn’t get over that I was here having had a mastectomy, and that I said, ‘I’ve had a mastectomy. Here I am’.
“One of them in particular said, ‘oh, so it wasn’t as frightening as you being led to believe?’.
“And I said, ‘No, it’s OK, just get good lymph drainage in after the operation’.
“I think that’s crucial, because it is nothing worse than that fear.
“I had that fear as soon as I was diagnosed, I had that fear of death. You think it’s a death sentence. It’s not.”
Asked how she was doing following her treatment, the duchess said: “I’m doing very well, thank you. If I was talking Gen Z I’d say ‘slay’.”
I’m sitting here with a mastectomy and I know exactly the feeling, so for once, I can say I do understand exactly how you feel
Sarah, Duchess of York
Dynevor, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, at the same time as her character was battling the illness on screen, said she and the duchess had bonded over their experiences.
She said: “When you meet someone who’s had breast cancer, you instantly have a bond, because you both been through something that’s really, really difficult.
“So, meeting Sarah and being able to talk about our experiences and what happened to us and coming here, the Nightingale Centre, it feels like a comfort blanket to me, because women are going through this every day, lots of women are coming through here and getting help, and that’s so important to me.”
She said she was “giddy” after the duchess agreed to come and visit the charity base and she thought her character would have been even more excited.
She said: “I think Sally Metcalfe would be thrilled that she’s met the Duchess of York, I don’t think she’d be able to stop curtseying the whole day!”
The women, joined by fellow patron and Dynevor’s on-screen colleague Sue Cleaver, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, visited the centre as the charity launched a public appeal to raise £600,000 for a National Breast Imaging Academy in Manchester – which will train 50 new breast imaging specialists a year.
Speaking to patient Ellen Aldred, 44, from Saddleworth, about the decision to have a mastectomy, the duchess said: “I’m sitting here with a mastectomy and I know exactly the feeling, so for once, I can say I do understand exactly how you feel.”
She also praised Macmillan clinic lead Karen Livingstone, who was delivering physiotherapy, telling her: “You’re a very nice person, very kind, very comforting.”
She served up a cappuccino at the centre’s cafe after greeting patients in the waiting room.
Construction of the imaging academy, at Wythenshawe Hospital, is due to start next month.
Fundraising by Prevent Breast Cancer and Manchester NHS Foundation Trust Charity has secured more than 80% of the costs but the organisations are calling for public support to help raise the final £600,000.