Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell has opened up about her terminal cancer diagnosis, claiming the disease has had a "positive" impact on her life. Appearing on Friday's edition of Loose Women, the 52-year-old revealed she has refused to let the cancer get the better of her by living life to the fullest. "I don't wake up every morning feeling fearful I wake up feeling grateful and excited about life," she told the panel.
Leah Bracknell discovered she had lung cancer last year
STORY: Leah Bracknell on her cancer diagnosis
Leah, who played Zoe Tate in the popular ITV soap, explained the most "terrifying" moment was just before she discovered her fate. "That was the scariest thing from one moment sitting feeling quite normal and strong," she confessed. "I'm quite a healthy person so I noticed I couldn’t go upstairs and then I started swelling up within about 10 days." The actress discovered she had lung cancer after a hospital check-up related to her heart last year. She was with her partner Jez Hughes, and admitted that the diagnosis came as "a shock" as she hadn't smoked in decades and was relatively fit for her age.
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Discussing her positive attitude towards her outlook, Leah added: "I feel positive about life… I think a lot of the work I've done in the past as a yoga teacher I have a head start – I have tools I can call upon a way of looking at the world that makes me less fearful of it. I've built a relationship with the cancer asking why is it here, what is it trying to tell me? It's about taking back control and working with people to empower yourself." In October, Leah and her partner set up a fundraising page to help her to undergo potentially life-saving treatment in Germany. She has since has surpassed her target amount of £50,000, raising over £62,000.
