SUE Nicholls is a Coronation Street icon, having played Audrey Roberts since 1979.
Glamorous Sue, 77, matriarch of the Platt family on screen, has built up a loyal following over the decades.
One fan in particular is close to her heart.
Back in 2010, Audrey was embroiled in a love triangle plot as she battled her frenemy Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska) for the affections of Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers).
Audrey took to wearing revealing clothes in an attempt to entice Lewis. One outfit, a skimpy, sleeveless nightie, would have life changing implications for actress Sue.
Corrie viewer Anna Bianconi-Moore had returned home from a busy shift as a nurse in the dermatology clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
While watching her favourite soap, one scene caught her eye.
As Audrey sat in bed while Lewis came into the room to give her a birthday present, Anna’s attention was caught by the dappled, ragged mole clearly visible on Sue’s shoulder.
“I noticed it was irregular in shape and had at least three different colours,” she told the Daily Mail.
“These are two of the red-flag signals that distinguish the most deadly form of skin cancer – malignant melanoma. I was obviously incredibly worried for Sue, and felt I needed to do something."
Proactive Anna found an email address for the show and contacted them, expressing her concerns.
“I wrote that I had observed a sinister-looking lesion and suggested that Sue should see a specialist, sooner rather than later, as it may require urgent attention.”
The message was passed to the show’s in-house medical team, and Sue’s mole was measured.
When she returned a few months later to check if it had grown, it was a quarter of an inch larger, so Sue was referred to a skin cancer specialist and consultant plastic surgeon, who decided that it should be removed.
A week later, her surgeon contacted her to say that her lifelong mole had turned into melanoma.
Sue, who was later given the all clear, eventually managed to track down Anna and thank her in person by inviting her to the Corrie set.
“It was so important to me to meet Anna, and thank her,” she said.
“She is such a kind, conscientious and clever lady. I wouldn’t have done anything about my mole had she not got in touch – it was just a freckle, and I’d had it for ever.”
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