The Office star Lucy Davis has revealed she has been diagnosed with “incurable” breast cancer, but is determined to live in “as fun a way as I possibly can”.
The 53-year-old actor, who famously played Dawn Tinsley in the classic UK sitcom, shared the news in a post on Instagram today (August 11), explaining that she had received her diagnosis 18 months ago but had kept it private until now.
“A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer, which has metastasized to my bones,” she wrote. “Specifically to my spine, right hip and my ribs. The cancer is incurable, and too late for chemo.”
She said the first sign had not been a conventional lump, but “rather a kind of hard spot” that was “really tiny”.
“I almost didn’t bother getting it checked,” she continued. “So I guess I’m saying don’t ignore anything – get everything checked out.”
Davis said she is now “trying to live out whatever might be left of my life in as fun a way as I possibly can”, explaining that the pain can now make it difficult to stand or walk for long periods and she sometimes uses a wheelchair.
“The thing that has been most vital to me is humour,” she added. “I asked my friends and family to make fun of me as much as possible (which they’re really good at), and most importantly of all to not treat me like a sick person.”
She said she was “not scared of whatever comes next” and was “at peace with it”, although she conceded that it was “far harder” for her family than it is for her.
In the accompanying video, she read out a poem common among cancer patients: “Ring this bell three times well. Its toll to clearly say: my treatment’s done, this course is run, and I am on my way.”
David is the daughter of comedian Jasper Carrott and played Dawn, whose on-off romance with Martin Freeman’s Tim Canterbury was central to the emotional core of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s The Office, which ran from 2001 to 2003.
Her other credits include Shaun Of The Dead, Wonder Woman, Pride And Prejudice, Ugly Betty and Black Books.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of The Office, and Freeman and Mackenzie Crook reunited for a BBC retrospective special last month.
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