Actress Lucy Davis has thanked fans for their “kindness and support” after she revealed she had been diagnosed with incurable breast cancer.
The 53-year-old The Office star revealed her condition on Tuesday, saying she “doesn’t know how long she has left”, and many friends and fans posted messages of support including former co-star Ricky Gervais and her father, comedian Jasper Carrott.
In a post on Instagram, she said: “Ok, so the last two days have been utterly overwhelming, in that I had zero idea my cancer post would have the attention it did.
“Truly, I am in shock. That said, thank you to everyone for the tremendous amount of kindness and support you have sent me. Good grief it was emotional.
“I am trying to go through all the comments on my post – and I’ll get there, just give me a bit of time.
“Also, to the couple of people who slightly misread the news and commented RIP, you’ll be delighted to know I am still alive – hurrah.”
The post was accompanied by a video of Davis undertaking a skateboarding lesson with actor Malachi Barton, who appeared with her in Disney Channel comedy series The Villains Of Valley View, which she said she had posted to “lighten things up” as she had “no sporting ability whatsoever”.
When she revealed her diagnosis, Davis said she was diagnosed a year-and-a-half ago and the cancer has “metastasised” to her bones including her spine, right hip and ribs, leaving it “too late” for chemotherapy.
She wrote: “As of now, I’m trying to live out whatever might be left of my life in as fun a way as I possibly can.”
Davis added: “I’m not scared of whatever comes next. I’m at peace with it.”
In her early career, Davis appeared in an episode of The Detectives, the BBC comedy starring her father, and a 1995 BBC production of Pride And Prejudice.
Her breakthrough role came in 2001 when she was cast as Dawn Tinsley in The Office, created by Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
She went on to appear in films including Shaun Of The Dead (2004) and Wonder Woman (2017), and played Hilda Spellman in the Netflix series the Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina.
