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Carol McGiffin reveals more devastating cancer news

Popular presenter beat the illness in 2015

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Carol McGiffin was diagnosed with breast cancer back in April 2014 and amazingly beat the disease after a staggering six rounds of chemotherapy.

She also had a mastectomy and has fully recovered.

But now, the Loose Women presenter is facing new heartache as her young sister Tracy has found a lump in her left breast and her breast cancer is terminal.

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The radio and television host spoke to Best magazine and revealed that her family are absolutely heartbroken.

They are unsure how much time Tracy has to live, but are keeping positive by focusing on a bucket list for her.

Carol, 56, underwent 15 doses of radiotherapy and said that she has been toughened up by her experience.

“Cancer is scary, but I don’t see the point of getting emotional about it,” she said.

“So when my sister, Tracy, found a lump in her left breast – just like mine – three months ago, I said, ‘Right – we’ll find out what the treatment is, deal with it, and you’ll be fine’.

“But she wasn’t fine. I think, deep down, Tracy knew it was bad news.

It turned out that her cancer was metastatic, which means that it had already spread from her lung to her spine, brain, liver and, now her breast.

Their mother Heather also died of cancer 13 years ago.

When comparing her late mother and Tracy, Carol admitted that the two of them are really similar.

“Tracy is a lot like Mum. Maybe if she was a drinker, like me, she might open up and talk about how she really feels but, like Mum, she’ll probably just deal with it right up to the last day without ever really wanting to talk about it.

Tracy, 53, has decided to create a bucket list to keep her going and have lots to focus on.

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Carol added in the interview: “All I ever wanted people to do was talk to me normally about other things in life, and that’s what I want for my sister.

Carol added that her sister was having chemotherapy once every three weeks and is in permanent touch with the local hospice.

Reminiscing about their childhood, Carol admitted they ‘fought a lot’ when they were teenagers, but got on well by the time they reached their 20s and even went on holiday together.

The siblings plan to make this Christmas as magical as ever for Tracy’s sake.

“We’ll have a family Christmas this year – not necessarily on the day – and it would be really nice if it was just the four of us – me, Kim, Tracy and our brother, Mark.

“Let’s just say that my Christmas wish is for my sister to have the best time ever, and to really make the most of the time she has left, because, above all, I don’t want her to have any regrets.”


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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