Ex-Emmerdale actor Malandra Burrows believes her dog discovered her cancer
Actor Malandra Burrows has bravely opened up about the moment her dog realised she had cancer.
Burrows – who played Kathy Glover in Emmerdale – joined ITV's Lorraine from her home in Huddersfield and spoke about the astonishing sequence of events that led her pooch Teddy to let her know something was wrong.
Because while she had no symptoms at all, the Border Terrier knew something wasn’t quite right.
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“It was so bizarre,” she explained in the emotional chat. “We were watching a movie together and she literally wanted to lie on my chest. She’d never done that before. Nuzzling, sort of head-butting me, and this one night she kind of swiped me so hard with her head it really really hurt, so that same evening, before I went to bed, I checked myself and just thought, ‘Oh, she must’ve bruised me – it’s really painful’. And that’s when I felt this little lump – I thought it was a swollen gland.
“I feel so blessed. I was one of those women who didn’t have any symptoms, and without that I just dread to think where I’d be now. It’s astonishing and I’m so thankful to her.”
Watch now: Former Emmerdale star Malandra Burrows discusses how her dog spotted she had cancer
The actor, 56, revealed last month that she had a stage three tumour removed and is facing six months of chemotherapy after her diagnosis in February.
At the time she said she had "gone into combat mode".
She recalled the moment she told the Macmillan nurse who confirmed her diagnosis: “I’ve been in the jungle with Ant and Dec, I can do anything. I’m going to fight this. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
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Burrows also paid an emotional tribute to broadcaster Deborah James who she said had given her inspiration after her own cancer diagnosis.
This week, it was announced that You, Me And The Big C presenter James, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, was now receiving hospice end of life care at her parents' home, surrounded by her family.
The 40-year-old set up a fundraiser called the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, which has so far surpassed £2.6m in donations from over 150,000 supporters.
