'I suddenly realised I couldn't hit certain notes' - Shropshire mum found she had throat cancer at karaoke

But six years ago the mother of one, of Telford, was diagnosed with cancer of the voice box which left her unable to longer belt out the hits including the Tina Turner anthem Simply the Best.

Despite the devastating diagnosis and enduring weeks of radiotherapy which burned her throat both inside and out, her positive outlook on life has shone through and today she spoke of her determination to help others who may find themselves in a similar situation.

In October 2015 the insurance administrator was given the all-clear, but the following month she developed a sore throat and was very sick. Then in January 2016 she had to go back to hospital or a biopsy and was told by her doctors that the cancer had come back and was very aggressive. She was told they might have to remove her voice box, but that they would try laser surgery first.

The following month Lucy, of Upper Road, Madeley, went into the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, where she underwent a six-and-a-half hour operation. The surgery including a laryngectomy, which involves the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose and the canal which connects the throat to the stomach.

Now aged, 31, she helps others who are going through the same illness and at the time she was thought to have been the youngest patient with that type of cancer. Since those dark days of treatment Lucy has learned to speak again in a new deep gravelly voice by pressing a tracheotomy device in her neck. She can no longer sing, but is thankful to be alive.

She says: "I used to do karaoke most weekends and sometimes in the week too with my own karaoke machine at home. I had a good singing voice and had loved singing ever since I was a little girl, I got my first karaoke machine aged six.

"People always used to compliment me and tell me I should sing professionally. I always had a husky voice, but suddenly it changed quite a bit and went really deep. I first noticed the problem in September 2010 and in November that year I was singing Tina Turner's Simply The Best to my mum and I couldn't hit the notes.

"I suddenly realised I couldn't hit certain notes I used to be able to sing. I thought I was going mad, but you can damage your voice through overuse and I just thought it was that.

"It was like I had a permanent frog in my throat, but it was cancer.

"Since my operation to remove my voice box I have a valve in my neck which is how I talk - I wouldn't be able to speak without it."

Lucy was nominated in the Courage Award category for the Shropshire Star's Pride of Shropshire Awards in 2015 for the way she faced her health troubles.

She and partner Dave Preece, a scaffolder, have since welcomed their son Keagan, aged two, into their lives.

"I had to learn to speak again from my stomach rather than my lungs. It was very difficult and I hated it at first because I felt like I sounded like a gremlin. Every time I spoke I just wanted to cry and I didn't look in the mirror for 10 days after my operation.

"Singing was such a big part of my identity before this but I can't sing anymore which breaks my heart. I have one video of me singing before I was ill and I watch it all the time. But I do feel incredibly lucky - not everyone is as lucky as I was," she adds.

She is now helping others by after sharing her experience in a documentary with the laryngectomy rehabilitation charity Shout at Cancer

The charity says: "We use singing and acting techniques in our workshops and we are very proud of our laryngectomy choir. We are in the process of expanding the cancer centres we are collaborating with."

More details about the charity is on the website shoutatcancer.org.