Two Putney residents will be watched by millions of TV viewers this month when they star in a new thought-provoking Cancer Research UK advert.
The advert, featuring Nick Tett, of Deodar Road, and Erica Holmes-Attivor, of St John’s Avenue, will be shown across terrestrial, satellite and digital channels, and focuses on the stark realities of being told you have cancer.
Speaking directly to the camera, each of the participants delivers a message which both recognises the progress made in cancer treatments but also highlights the that there is still a long way to go to beat the disease.
It is the first time the charity has featured real cancer patients and survivors in a TV ad and both Putney residents were delighted to take part.
Ms Homes-Attivor, a researcher, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August last year but is coming to the end of a successful round of chemotherapy.
The 27-year-old said: “The day I was told I had cancer was an extremely bad day to say the least – it was such a shock. Nothing prepares you for hearing the words ‘You have cancer’.”
“However, thanks to the work of Cancer Research UK, a cancer diagnosis is not the automatic death sentence it once was. Some people have been very successfully treated, many more are able to live with cancer.”
Mr Tett, a 50-year-old travel specialist, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2006 and underwent chemotherapy and then a bone marrow transplant in early 2007.
He said: “I’ll never forget the day I was told I had cancer. To me this was one of those things that only happened to other people and I couldn’t quite believe what the doctor was saying to me.”
In London alone, 31,170 people are diagnosed with cancer every year, but the annual death rate is being reduced. For example, in the 1960s, less than 25 per cent of children with cancer survived, today, more than 75 per cent survive.
The tear-jerking advert will be shown throughout July and August.
For more information visit cancerresearchuk.org.
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