EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison reveals womb cancer battle and shares why she kept her terrifying diagnosis secret for nine years: ‘I thought I’d die’

EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison has revealed her secret battle with womb cancer in a candid new interview.

The 58-year-old actress, who played Heather Trott in the BBC soap from 2007 to 2012, has kept her health problems private after being given the terrifying diagnosis nine years ago.

She has now opened up about how she thought she was going to die after being diagnosed with stage two uterine cancer in 2015 – calling it ‘a terrible time’.

She said OK! Magazine: ‘There were some dark moments, especially at night, when I thought, ‘Am I going to die?’ Shall I leave my husband without a wife, my son without a mother?’

‘But the time is right to talk about it all now. I hope my story can give strength to other women.

‘I’ve been through a lot, but I’m still here. What does’nt kill you makes you stronger.’

She received her diagnosis after attending a regular smear test, which came back clear.

But after she started having back pain and seeing blood, she knew this wasn’t normal.

She then went to her GP and was referred for tests and a biopsy to a local hospital in Kent.

Four months after that, she received the news that she had stage two uterine cancer.

Cheryl has now opened up about how hearing the doctor’s diagnosis was an ‘out of body experience’.

She said: ‘I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn’t believe the doctor was talking about me.’

After x-rays, Cheryl was also recommended for a complete hysterectomy several weeks later.

She told how this hit her hard in case she wanted to have another child – after early menopause had already reduced her chances of doing so.

Cheryl now lives with her husband of 12 years, Yassine. She has a son Alex, 24, from her first marriage to Jamshed Saddiqi.

She had only just married Yassine when the diagnosis came and felt sadness because “any thought of having a child together had been taken away.”

The star shared the devastating news with a few friends in the industry at the time, including Dame Barbara Windsor, June Brown and Steve McFadden.

She also confided in entertainment icons Paul O’Grady and Julian Clary.

Last year, Cheryl was given the all clear.

She shares the diagnosis after Cheryl revealed earlier this month that she was rushed to hospital after being left ‘in complete agony’.

She released a lengthy statement saying she was being treated for an infection that was causing her a lot of pain, but after six antibiotic infusions she was soon “home and on the road to recovery.”

In her statement, published by The mirrortold Cheryl that her 24-hour stay in A&E was an ‘eye-opening experience’, adding that she has been ‘in and out of hospital’ for the past nine years due to a number of ‘serious health issues’.

Thanking the staff at Blackpool & Victoria Teaching Hospital, Cheryl said: ‘I was being treated for an infection with six antibiotic infusions an hour, and at times I was in total pain.

‘I’m happy to say that the infection is subsiding and that I am now home and on the road to recovery. My family has been by my side throughout this entire ordeal.

‘Spending 24 hours in the emergency room was more than an eye-opening experience. The sheer abuse and swamped conditions our healthcare workers face have been painful to watch.

“The lack of appreciation that some people showed during my time there was very difficult to see.”

Cheryl went on to say that her previous health problems had been ‘very frightening’ and ‘disturbing’, and described the NHS as ‘terribly broken’ and ‘neglected’.

She ended her statement by saying she was looking forward to ‘getting back on her feet’ and returning to work with her son at the Whispers Cafe in Lytham.

Shortly before, she had said in a video: ‘Hi everyone, I’ve just spent the last 24 hours in A&E at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. I’ve seen things in the last 24 hours that I can’t unsee. I have been in complete pain.

‘I have been made a million times better by the angels who are all part of the NHS staff and whom I would like to thank very much. When people say they don’t get paid enough, they really don’t get paid enough.

“We have a broken system. It’s gone to pot. It’s been shot. But it’s still amazing and we still have it, just a thread.”

She added: “I would first like to say thank you very much. I’m doing a lot better, and when you sit in a chair in the emergency room for 24 hours and you’re sent away every six hours to get an IV, an antibiotic drip, and then you come back…’

Cheryl’s followers flooded the comments section with well wishes and supportive messages for the soap star.

They shared, “Oh Cheryl, bless you. I hope you feel better and make a full recovery soon. God bless ; Omg, I hope you’re doing well now. Sending hugs. ‘

‘I’m sorry x I hope you feel better x take care of yourself x rest!!!! And hope you don’t have to experience that again; Do you hope you are doing well? Sending healing ‍’

‘Get better very soon, take it easy ; Get well soon and thank God that the NHS is still fighting on despite everything it’s going through.’

Cheryl shot to fame playing the loveable Heather Trott on EastEnders for five years before she was brutally murdered by Ben Mitchell from 2012.

Her character’s death came at the decision of soap bosses, rather than Cheryl herself, who previously admitted she burst into tears after being told.

She told Best magazine: ‘It was a bittersweet day. What you get with one hand is taken away with the other!

“When they told me Heather was for the chop, (the boss) had to get me a handkerchief. Sometimes a character is sacrificed to make other stories work. I understand. I knew it was coming, but it was still a shock.”

A source said The sun at the time about her departure: “Heather’s character has been extremely popular over the years, but the decision has been made to remove her from the show before viewers tire of her.”