Coronation Street legend Beverley Callard has been praised by fans after sharing a candid look at her radiotherapy treatment, aiming to remove the 'fear of the unknown' for others facing similar procedures. The actress, known for playing Liz McDonald on the long-running ITV soap, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer earlier this year and is now undergoing treatment in Ireland, where she relocated with her husband Jon McEwan to join the Irish soap Fair City as Lily Patterson.
Diagnosis and Initial Treatment
Beverley revealed she received the shock health news just 20 minutes before filming her first scenes on Fair City. Following the diagnosis, she had three lymph nodes removed as a precaution to prevent the cancer from spreading. She later shared that her consultant said the surgery 'went really well' and they managed to 'cut the cancer out'. The soap star has been documenting her journey on social media, including the wait for radiotherapy, during which she was told she should have started sooner.
First Radiotherapy Session Experience
After her first session last week, Beverley described it as 'fine' and 'nothing to worry about at all'. She explained: 'They took me to this huge, like, X-ray room and a big scanner in there. I had to take off my top half and jewellery, as you do, and then lie down in exactly the same position as I had for the body mapping... There were two lovely women in there, fantastic. And then, they left the room, switched the machine on, and there's just, like, a series of lights flashing, and I just lay there with my eyes closed, and it lasted 11 minutes.' She added: 'As I say, nothing to worry about at all.'
In a post accompanying the video, Beverley wrote: '1 down…9 to go! That was as easy and pain free as it could have been. Straight in, 11 minutes with the big machine and I was free to go. Back again tomorrow… and if you’re about to go through something similar, it really wasn’t bad at all.'
Fifth Session: Demystifying the Process
Now, Beverley has candidly documented her fifth radiotherapy session in a new Instagram video, taking fans into the treatment room and explaining each step. Speaking to the camera, she said: 'So I'm here for radiotherapy number five. Fear of the unknown. I'm going to kill all that.' She admitted: 'The biggest thing is the fear of the unknown. So I'm showing you what happens.'
As she showed her followers around, she pointed out: 'That's the bed I have to lie on. One tip is, wear the loosest top possible, no metal, and just pull your top down. So you don't have to spend ages getting changed, that's what I do!' She then showed how she prepares and cut the footage for a few minutes as she underwent treatment. 'These people, and that machine, work its magic. It makes occasional noises, but it's not frightening... So it's completely painless. That's the machine, all these spin around you, nothing hurts. You don't go in a tunnel or anything like that. It's a few minutes and it's done!'
Fan Praise and Support
Captioning the post, Beverley wrote: 'Come with me for session 5 of radiotherapy… and let me show you what happens…' She was quickly flooded with supportive messages. @jassyveale said: 'Thank you for sharing this, you are such a wonderful person to share your personal story.' @ruthielou79 wrote: 'Thank you for sharing this Beverly, your so amazing, keep going your doing so well.' @abi_goldy commented: 'What a great idea to share this part of your journey - u r doing an amazing job helping us all understand every part of it!! You are such an inspiration.' @eileendrever added: 'You are the guiding light to many going through this - thank you for your honesty.'
