A former Big Brother star has spoken about how an eagle-eyed viewer helped to save her life after spotting a worrying lump on her neck during a television interview.
Bree Amer revealed the "bonkers" story of the way that a dedicated viewer, who was a doctor, spent a year trying to contact her to pass on his concerns. He had noticed a lump on her neck during her television appearance hosting Big Brother Friday Night Live back in 2005.
"When I turned my head on the [Friday Night Live] panel, a lump protruded out of my neck - I had an inch and a half tumor that I never noticed," Amer told Daily Mail Australia, "He saw it and I came back a year later and it was bigger... he tried to get in contact with me for like a year," she continued.
A year later, after the doctor saw one of Amer's former housemates, the message was finally passed on, and she was subsequently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“I thought he was a bit bonkers to start off with,” Amer admitted to Daily Mail Australia, but she brought up the doctor's concerns with her own GP and he was quick to act.
"Eventually I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I had two surgeries, and radioactive iodine treatment. I was really lucky he got in touch!" She said.
Amer revealed that the doctor in question had even gone to the lengths of spending nearly $400 trying to get through to the Mike Goldman's Up Late show competition line to relay his concerns.
Thankfully, Amer says that she is "well and truly out of the woods when it comes to cancer," though she still has check ups every six months to monitor her thyroid.
According to the NHS, thryroid cancer is a rare form of cancer that affects the thyroid gland. Symptoms can include a painless lump or swelling in the front of the neck, swollen glands in the neck, unexplained hoarseness that does not improve after a few weeks, a sore throat that does not get better and having difficulties swallowing. You can read more about thyroid cancer on the NHS website.
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