Terminally ill mother-of-five Kelly Dubdhda urges people to get checked amid huge drop in cancer samples

Kelly Dubdhda has been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer which has metatisized to her chest wall, liver and lungs.

The Liverpudlian, who moved to Derry 11 years ago, is determined to defy her diagnosis and beat it. She urged anyone concerned about their health to contact their doctor and request that bloods be taken. She was speaking after monthly overviews of recent trends in the number of patients with pathology samples indicating cancer, produced by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry to evaluate the impact of Covid 19 on cancer diagnoses, showed a marked decrease.

From March 1 to August 15, pathology samples indicating cancer at the Altnagelvin laboratory dropped by 36.6%, compared to the same time period in 2017 to 2019. The reduction in numbers was the highest in the north. In the north as a whole, the number of pathology samples indicating cancer fell by 27.7%, with a 24.9% decrease among men and a reduction of 29.7% in women. Ms Dubdhda has urged people to ‘look after themselves and go look about themselves if something isn’t right.’