A woman has said her dog 'saved her life' after she sniffed out her breast cancer.
Claire Churchill said her Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross Holly would not stop 'scratching', 'crying' and 'murmuring' at her left breast, YorkshireLive reports. She said she would 'paw' at the lump and would not leave it alone.
Claire eventually went to get checked and was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020. She described Holly, who she rescued from a rescue centre on Boxing Day in 2019, as her 'angel'.
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Claire, 36, said: "When I first got her, I thought she was just weird. She would always stuff her nose down my top...As she got bigger towards the summer of 2020, she started pawing at my boob - only my left - and started scratching.
"She used to fall asleep on my left breast, not the other. It was going on and on and on."
In August 2020, Claire said Holly 'wouldn't leave' her breast alone. She said: "I thought 'what are you doing?'
"I thought I had some crisps or a biscuit down there. I started feeling around down there and thought I could feel a lump. I thought 'it doesn't feel very good...'
"I wouldn't have checked myself...She [Holly] was really distressed about it [the lump]. I called the doctors - it was the middle of lockdown - and because of the backlog and delays they couldn't check it until October 2020. By that time it was the size of an orange and you could see it through my bra and top."
Claire was diagnosed with breast cancer in November that year. She underwent a mastectomy in December last year and had chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
She said: "All of 2021 I had my treatment - it took a good year. It was Covid so I was all on my own and wasn't allowed anyone to sit with me.
"2022 was me getting my life back together. They removed all of the cancer from my breast. It spread to my lymph nodes and I had to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy."
It has now been said that there is no evidence of disease but Claire has been told she's a carrier of the brca gene and will have to undergo another mastectomy and hysterectomy.
Speaking about her diagnosis in 2020, Claire said: "In the Doomsday book of life we were at 11.59pm. The biggest tumour was 7.8cm. I was in my early 30s and wasn't looking for it. If it wasn't for Holly, I wouldn't have known and would have died."
Claire said she "never checked herself" prior to Holly finding her lump as she thought "breast cancer happened to women in their 60s and 70s, not early 30s".
She said that she told the doctor about Holly and they said they had heard "a few stories of dogs detecting cancer". Claire added: "As soon as I had my mastectomy she [Holly] left me alone. She's never done it again since then and it's like she's satisfied and happy it has gone.
"Through my treatment she could tell when I had chemotherapy and she wouldn't leave me alone.
"She's three now and is my little angel. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's just a normal dog now and she's suffered a bit during my treatment because I couldn't always take her out for walks every day but now we go out walking every day. She's brilliant."
Claire said she is now looking forward to her future with Holly and added: "I'm so grateful and thankful to her and she's a rescue - she hasn't been trained to do this she just knew.
"If you can please get a rescue dog. Not only are you saving their lives but they can save yours."
