Beloved BBC personality Mark Steel has opened up about his decision to overlook a common cancer symptom just weeks before being diagnosed with the life-threatening disease. Speaking to The Times ahead of the release of his new memoir, the star, famed for his show 'Mark Steel's In Town' on BBC Radio 4, revealed that he noticed a lump on his neck shortly after his marriage ended.
Initially choosing to disregard the unusual growth, hoping it would reduce in size, it had instead grown larger within two weeks and he was subsequently diagnosed with throat cancer (also known as laryngeal cancer). During the interview, Times journalist Helen Rumbelow noted that despite the comedian's full recovery from the illness, it had left its mark.
She wrote: "His voice is barely audible and he pauses between sentences to tackle the job of swallowing.". Highlighting the stark contrast between his familiar south east accent and the changes brought on by his condition, she humorously observed that his voice now bears resemblance to a well-known singer: "For me Steel is synonymous with his booming estuary accent, a voice as strong and steely as his political views. Instead I am talking to someone who sounds like a whispering Leonard Cohen recording a sex tape.".
Despite the 64-year-old making a full recovery from the disease, it's not just his voice that seems to be suffering. Helen observed that the comedian began to struggle while sipping his water and had even learned a special technique to do so, reports Bristol Live.
He also made the heartbreaking admission that he hadn't eaten for days as a result of his health scare, but assured it "isn't the cancer coming back". The NHS reports around 2,000 new cases of this condition annually in the UK, with men being more susceptible than women.
Having presented his own show, The Mark Steel Solution on BBC Radio 5 in 1992, in the years that followed, the comedian appeared on the likes of Have I Got News For You, Room 101, Mock the Week and the Graham Norton Show. Lifestyle choices such as smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and an unhealthy diet lacking fruits and vegetables can increase the risk of developing the disease.
