‘I WILL BEAT BREAST CANCER TO BE HERE FOR MY BABY BOY'

FORMER CORRIE STAR VICTORIA EKANOYE AND HER PARTNER JONNY LOMAS OPEN UP ABOUT HER BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND HOW SON THÉ ODORE IS KEEPING THEM STRONG

- RHONA MERCER

Back in March, former Corrie and The Royals star Victoria Ekanoye and her partner Jonny Lomas opened up to OK! about the traumatic birth of their son Théodore in January this year, and how delighted they were to be enjoying their first few months as parents to their “miracle” baby.

It had taken Victoria, who has sickle cell disease, a while to recover from the labour, both physically and emotionally, and they were overjoyed with their baby boy. Fast forward a few months, however, and Victoria found herself back in hospital after finding a lump in her left breast.

The star, who played Angie Appleton during her 18-month stint on the cobbles and Rachel in hit US drama The Royals, opposite Elizabeth Hurley, was given the all clear by two doctors, but feeling that something wasn’t quite right, she sought a third opinion.

Following her gut instinct turned out to be the right decision because the 39-year-old was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Luckily, the cancer has been caught so early that Victoria’s doctors believe a double mastectomy will cure her.

When we meet Victoria and Jonny, 33, on our exclusive shoot, they have clearly been rocked by her shock diagnosis, but are also feeling very positive about the future.

“This is going to sound so cheesy, but I almost feel like having Théo and breastfeeding him has saved me,” she tells us.

“Had I never been fortunate enough to be able to breastfeed, those lumps would never have come up the way they did.”