Grange Hill star Lee MacDonald has been left terrified after two cancer scares in the past 18 months, with the actor urging fans to get any “annoying” symptoms checked out
Grange Hill’s Lee MacDonald has thrown himself into campaigning following two frightening cancer scares within 18 months.
The actor, best known as Zammo McGuire in the cast of Grange Hill, had his first brush with cancer last year when a “little black spot” appeared on his eye, which he initially dismissed as a mole.
He was more “irked” by it due to its location near his eye but, after it began “weeping”, his wife urged him to consult a doctor, which didn’t particularly alarm Lee.
“Cancer didn’t even cross my mind going into the doctor’s. I went there purely because it was annoying me, and it was there, and I wanted to get rid of it,” he reminisced about the doctor’s visit, explaining how he assumed it would be a harmless mole or spot.
“So I thought, a bit of cream and it’ll go.” However, his world was turned upside down when the doctor informed him that the black spot looked like cancer.
“And [the doctor] said, it looks like a BCC. I said, ‘What’s the BCC?’ He said, ‘It’s a skin cancer.’ Honestly, my heart sank. I sat there for two or three minutes without saying anything, and then when I got downstairs to where my mate Andy was picking me up… I sat in the car and I cried for an hour,” reports the Mirror.
“I just sat there crying because that word cancer just really scared me. And you hear horror stories with cancer.”
BCC, or basal cell carcinoma, is a common type of skin cancer that begins on the top layer of the skin, according to the NHS. A BCC is a ‘non-melanoma skin cancer can often be easily treated’.
While his mate tried to keep him level-headed, he couldn’t shake the thought of how one small spot could drastically alter his life. “So all this period of time in my head, I’m thinking, I’ve got cancer, which was horrible,” he confessed.
Lee went back to the doctor’s for another biopsy and discovered the spot wasn’t cancerous, despite the initial concerns. While it was the good news he’d been hoping for, it gave him a fresh outlook on his health as he joined forces with O2’s campaign, in collaboration with The British Skin Foundation, to emphasise the significance of sun safety.
Earlier this month, Lee noticed a rash on his face that he initially thought was due to shaving. “Because I was shaving every other day and it would bleed, I just thought it’s a rash where I’m shaving on it, I’m just aggravating it, so it’s never going to clear up.”
Lee stopped shaving around the area to see if the issue would resolve itself, but there was no change. He promptly arranged a doctor’s appointment for a check-up and found out it was actually keratosis, a rash with pre-cancerous cells.
Upon hearing the diagnosis, his immediate reaction was: “Oh, not again.”
The EastEnders actor will soon have the rash burnt off, which should ‘hopefully get rid of it’. “So hopefully, you know, it will get rid of it. But again, quite scary. So that’s two scares in 18 months,” the star shared with us.
In his younger years, between the ages of 16 and 26, Lee was a regular user of sun beds, dedicating an hour each week to the practice, divided between Tuesdays and Thursdays. This continued despite experiencing adverse reactions, where his skin would turn bright red, only to return to its original pale colour the following day.
Lee confessed: “I just felt that it made me feel a bit better, a bit tan.”
With a dire warning, Lee implored both men and women to undergo skin checks and take necessary precautions. He pleaded: “If you’ve got something there, go and get it checked, please.”
Have you joined Threads? Follow Daily Star to keep up to date on all things showbiz here
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
