Shaughna Philips has sent an emotional message to Demi Jones, after Demi was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The Love Island star, 27, posted a clip of their time together on the dating show last year, when Shaughna encouraged Demi to put on her bravest face during a recoupling.
Sharing with her 1.5 m Instagram followers, Shaughna wrote:
“My sweet, gentle, beautiful girl, the same message I was giving you in the video applies today more than ever. Game face on my girl, you’ve got this” and added ‘strength’ and ‘love’ emojis.
Demi, responded:
“I’m literally crying, I love you so much, so grateful to have you in my life.”
She also reposted the message on her Instagram stories and added: “I’m surrounded by so much love it hurts.”
Demi revealed yesterday that she had already undergone surgery to have a lump removed from her neck and it had turned out to be malignant. She showed a NHS leaflet about cancer to her 1.1. million followers on Instagram and captioned it:
“Check your lumps. Hi guys, I got my results today and unfortunately I have thyroid cancer. ‘The tumour has been removed but I’m now due to have more surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid. ‘I’m staying very positive and I’m a strong girl so I’ll be fine, thank you for your love and support always. I’ll bounce back stronger.”
The 22-year-old from London admitted that she’d first noticed the lump two years ago but hadn’t dealt with it earlier as she was still at university writing her dissertation and taking her final exams.
According to the NHS, thyroid cancer is a rare type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones.
It's most common in people in their 30s and those over the age of 60. Women are two to three times more likely to develop it than men.
Thyroid cancer is usually treatable and in many cases can be cured completely, although it can sometimes come back after treatment.
However, if some or all of your thyroid gland is removed, it will no longer produce thyroid hormones.
This means Demi will probably have to take replacement hormone tablets for the rest of her life to prevent symptoms of an underactive thyroid, such as fatigue, weight gain and dry skin.
