A Tameside woman who has been diagnosed with five different types of cancer in the past 35 years has thanked the doctors and researchers who have “given her hope”.
71-year-old Irene North was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1987, and has been under the care of The Christie in Manchester ever since.
The retired NHS phlebotomist – who has a daughter, two sons, and six grandchildren – said she was most worried about her family when she was first diagnosed, because her mum had died of cancer at the age of 41 when Irene was just six years old.
“Because mum died so young, it was always at the back of my mind that I might get cancer,” Irene admitted.
Over the past three and half decades, not only has Irene been diagnosed with breast cancer and secondary breast cancer, but she has also been treated for cervical cancer, skin cancer, and a routine scan in 2014 detected the very early stages of pancreatic cancer – which was successfully treated without her requiring major surgery.
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Following treatment during 1987 and 1988, Irene was declared cancer free.
Along with her husband Jack, Irene threw herself into fundraising for cancer-related causes, and also helped to set up the local Withington/Christie breast cancer care group.
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Now, Irene has decided to pay tribute to the doctors and researchers who have “given her hope” throughout her cancer journey, explaining: “When I first got cancer, I was terrified.
“I was told I needed to go to The Christie and back then, just the name of the hospital felt like a death sentence… [but] once I was through the door and started to talk to people, I realised that it wasn’t the place I or my family feared.
“The staff are so caring and compassionate, and their expertise is always plain to see.”
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Irene North was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and has been under the care of The Christie ever since / Credit: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Two of the doctors at The Christie that Irene has paid a special thank you to is father and son consultants, Tony and Sasha Howell.
“Tony and I became friends, and he supported the [Withington/Christie breast cancer care group] frequently,” said Irene. “He came along to talk to us as cancer patients about the challenges and developments of breast cancer treatments [and] over the years, I got to know most of the breast care team at The Christie and many of them joined us to share their expertise with the group.”
She continued: “In 2008, I walked through the door into a consulting room with my daughter Tracy and was surprised to see a spitting image of Tony Howell. It was surreal. Sacha explained that Tony was his dad.
“They are both very similar in how they treat patients. They both really listen to what you have to say, and I always felt like they had my best interests at heart.”
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Irene admits that coping with cancer is “hard” and living with it for 35 years has been tough, but she says she feels “very lucky” that many of the cancer treatments she has been given over the years have worked for longer than anticipated.
“The doctors have helped me maintain hope [and] that’s why the work The Christie does to discover new treatments is so important for patients like me,” said Irene.
Irene has also benefited from having some of her care delivered at home via The Christie outreach team.
“A lot of my treatment can be given by The Christie staff in local health facilities or even in the comfort of my own home with the nurses coming to me [and] that has made a huge difference to me, particularly during the pandemic and I’m very grateful.
“This team is another example of the wonderful work The Christie does.”
Featured Image – The Christie
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Gary Neville ‘may or may not’ be actually joining The Reytons on tour
Danny Jones
In yet another absolutely random moment from the ever-ubiquitous Gary Neville, the former footballer turned businessman looks like he might be joining Yorkshire band The Reytons on their upcoming tour.
Believe it or not, we’re not having you on – not even a little bit.
Yes, as per an announcement from this week, Gary Neville looks set to be heading out on the road with Rotherham’s The Reytons as part of their ‘Right Back At It Tour’ next year.
As if the reveal was random and amusing enough as it is, the unsigned and unapologetic Northerners confirmed the news with a hilarious promotional video that we’ve now watched multiple times in disbelief that this actually looks like it happening.
Comments like that say it all: quality content and a genuinely funny way to unveil an already comical bit of music PR that goes on a long list of G Nev saying yes to pretty much anything. First Dragon’s Den and now a UK tour.
Although the full press release itself opens with the Manchester United legend, pundit and local entrepreneur declaring, “I’m in The Reytons”, it does also caveat this with the disclaimer: “*Gary Neville may or may not be actually joining The Reytons”.
We presume this means that the 49-year-old’s various media commitments and other projects mean there could see him pull out, but until they say otherwise, or the four-piece finds someone else to fill in for bassist Lee Holland and his broken arm, we’re taking this lineup change as read.
Oh yeah, this isn’t a random ‘DJ set’ or a quick repping-type gig to get the crowd warmed up act – by all accounts if this ends up happening he’ll be joining them on stage.
To be honest, we don’t know what to think; however, given that Neville has already played guitar live with The Charlatans and then went on to do a b2b set with Tim Burgess himself at Kendal Calling 2024, this really isn’t that surprising.
Set to play a run of nine gigs including London’s O2 Academy in Brixton, Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom and Aviva Studios – the now permanent home of Factory International – in Manchester on Saturday, 8 March, The Reytons are sure to get a warm reception.
After forming back in 2017 and years at slogging away, record deal or no, the band made it to number one in the Official UK Album Charts with What’s Rock And Roll? last year and played a sold-out hometown date at Clifton Park to 20,000 fans. It’s some journey they’ve gone on.
That one might be sold out but if you want to be in the crowd when the ex-England international and Monday Night Football star walks out on stage with a bass strapped around his neck, you can get ready to grab your tickets for their Manc gig when they go live this Friday (20 September) HERE.
No backing, no label, all Reytons – with a little bit of Gary Neville now too, apparently…
New study reveals the UK’s top 10 ‘most stressful’ jobs
Emily Sergeant
A top 10 list of the most stressful jobs in the UK has been compiled and shared following an interesting new study.
Every job role comes with its fair share of stresses, that we can all agree on.
You could ask pretty much any working person across the country to tell you what makes their job so stressful on a daily basis, and they’d probably be able to reel you off a couple without even having to think too hard about it – but which jobs ask more of their employees than others?
Some jobs certainly come with more than their fair share of challenges compared to others, but what roles and which industries are considered to be the UK’s most stressful? Well, in a bid to find out this answer out once and for all, personal injury injury experts, Claims.co.uk, analysed health and safety executive data from the UK Government.
Researchers looked at the prevalence and rates of self-reported stress, depression, or anxiety that were either caused, or made worse by, their current or most recent job.
And it’s police officers who take the top spot.
A new study has revealed the UK’s top 10 ‘most stressful’ jobs / Credit: gov.uk | GMP
With a rate of 6,500 per 100,000 current or former police officers reporting that their job had negatively impacted their mental health, this rate is alarmingly almost two and a half times (242%) higher than the national average.
Approximately 11,000 out of an estimated total of 169,231 police officers reported that their jobs had caused mental health issues or made them even worse, which works out to an estimated 6.5% of the total employees in this role.
Social workers rank second, with a rate of 6,100 per 100,000 social workers currently or formerly employed in social work roles reporting mental health issues caused by their jobs, while third place goes to welfare and housing associate professionals, who have a rate of 5,810 per 100,000 reporting mental health issues from their jobs.
Top 10 most stressful jobs in the UK
Police officers (sergeant and below)
Social workers
Welfare and housing associate professionals
Community nurses
Other nursing professionals
Higher education teaching professionals
Primary education teaching professionals
Secondary education teaching professionals
Human resource managers and directors
National government administrative occupations
Community nurses and other nursing professionals, higher and primary education teachers, and HR managers were just a few of the other stressful jobs making up the top 10.
“The findings bring to light job roles throughout the UK that detrimentally affect the mental health of employees,” a spokesperson for Claims.co.uk commented.
“Police officers, social workers, and welfare and housing associate professionals are notably associated with higher stress levels. Factors such as long hours, high responsibilities, and public-facing roles appear to contribute significantly to an employee’s mental health being negatively impacted.”
The spokesperson added that employers should encourage regular breaks, offer mental health resources, and promote open communication to employees manage their mental health more effectively.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd August 2022 
