We should all heed the advice offered by Joyce Gascoigne today, the great-grandmother who overcame cancer at the ripe old age age of 84.

The odds were stacked against her.

One in 11 women over the age of 80 will develop breast cancer.

The former auxiliary nurse felt something was "not quite right" one day and told her daughter. And, from there, a doctor's appointment.

In the end, the decision to talk about her worries — and more importantly, act on them — saved her life.

Who knows what might have happened if, as we all do from time to time, things were bottled up and forgotten?

A biopsy and a mammogram revealed she had cancer, but she had the lump removed and is now fighting fit.

If Mrs Gascoigne can teach us anything it is where there is life, there is hope.

We wish her all the best.