‘Dog detected my cancer’ says survivor

Valerie Mathers, 54, was feeling unwell around Christmas 2008. Several weeks went by and she still felt poorly so decided to make an appointment with her GP who thought she might have an ulcer or problems with her gallbladder.

After she became ill Valerie says every time she visited her brother Freddie, who had a Jack Russell, the dog jumped up on her, wrapped itself round her neck and would not leave her. “He never did this with anyone else,” Valerie said.

Valerie a volunteer at the Lisburn Cancer Research branch, says she thought Sammy dog was being a nuisance.

She commented: “I thought he was a right nuisance but then my brother said I was the only one the dog did it with.

“When it kept happening I remembered watching a documentary about dogs detecting cancer. Something just told me I needed to go back to the doctor to get checked out again.”

She continued: “So I made another appointment and I told the doctor about the dog’s behaviour and he said “you never know” and organised for me to get a camera put down to check my stomach - that’s when they found an erosion and a biopsy found cancer cells.”

It wasn’t long before Valerie underwent an opertaion to remove her stomach.

“Thankfully the cancer was in the early stages and it was caught in time. I truly believe that it it hadn’t have been for that dog I would have just ignored it thinking I had an ulcer.”

The mother of one says she has good and bad days and has to follow a very strict diet but is thankful to Sammy the dog.

She is urging others feeling unusually unwell to “go get checked out and don’t leave it”.

“My cancer was detected in its early stages but if I’d left it things could have been a lot worse,” she said.

Valerie is encouraging local people to join forces and support a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, Stand Up To Cancer which aims to raise money to fund vital research which will get new and better treatments to cancer patients faster. It will culminate in a live TV fundraiser on Friday October 17 as an army of millions tune in to Channel 4 for a live show hosted by Davina McCall, Alan Carr and Dr Christian Jessen.