Oldham actress Karen launches Stand Up To Cancer fundraising campaign in memory of dad

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Oldham actress Karen Henthorn was just 19 when her dad tragically died from cancer aged 44.

Karen, who played Teresa Bryant in Coronation Street, is now supporting Stand Up To Cancer in his memory this autumn.

The 60-year-old from Saddleworth is backing the joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 after also being successfully treated for skin cancer herself.

Before she became a household name, Karen’s life was turned upside down when in 1982, at only 19-years-old, her dad, Peter Henthorn, passed away. He was just 44.

Following a period of poor health Peter was taken ill after suffering a stroke.

His health deteriorated and he sadly died a short time later in Oldham Hospital, where a postmortem examination revealed that he had died from cancer, found in his liver and lungs.

Karen, who has had a string of high-profile TV roles including Eastenders, Doctors and Shameless, said: “I remember there was a knock at the door one day, and it was the police, they’d found my dad living on the streets of Manchester.

"I had no idea, I usually saw him every two weeks, since my parents separated.

“They’d brought him to our house because they thought he’d had a stroke.

"He’d lost his short-term memory and could only recall the address of the old family home before my parents were divorced.

"So, my mum put him up for the night and then she found him a care home to go in.

“He’d only been in there a short time when he was transferred to hospital, and I used to go and visit him.

"Then one day I got home, and we’d had a call to say his condition had deteriorated further and we should go up there.

"When we arrived, they told me he had died.

“That was the first time I knew he had cancer, in his liver and lungs, and the first time anyone told me he was an alcoholic.

"And that was it, there was no support.

"It was different back then, so that was it. It would be lovely if he was up there looking down on me now, but who knows.”

Then in 2011, Karen, who starred in the National Theatre tour of War Horse, faced her own cancer diagnosis after becoming concerned about a mark on her chest.

Karen had visited the doctors on numerous occasions about the spot, but it wasn’t until she insisted on being referred to a skin specialist that she was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma - a non-melanoma skin cancer which usually develops in the outermost layer of skin.

She has since had two further lumps removed, one from her chest and another from her right arm, after they were also found to be cancerous.

Karen said: “My first one was during my time on Corrie, and it’d been there a while, but my GP didn’t seem concerned.

"When I eventually got to see a skin specialist they said straight away, yes, it’s cancer.

“So, I had that removed, then I got another when I was doing War Horse a few years later, and I remember having that one removed and going on stage that night."

She continued: “Then there was a third and I was seen pretty much straight away.

"They are keeping a close eye on me, because they have said it will keep coming back.”

Now Karen, who recently stared alongside Sheridan Smith in Channel Five drama The Teacher, is sharing her story to help rally people to stand together against the disease by raising money to help make the next cancer breakthrough happen.  

She’s calling on gym bunnies and sofa surfers alike to flex their fundraising muscles by getting sponsored to do 100 squats every day next month.  

Participants can adapt the challenge to suit their fitness level and complete their squats anytime, anywhere – all at once or throughout the day. 

By the end of the 30 days, they will have clocked-up a total of 3,000 squats to help power life-saving research.   

Alternatively, less energetic folk can choose to donate, raise money in their own way, or pick from a host of fun-filled ideas with a free fundraising pack available online for inspiration and support.   

With around 44,100 people diagnosed with cancer every year in the North West, the need to speed up progress is clear.  

Stand Up To Cancer helps to take breakthroughs from the lab and accelerate them into new treatments that could make a real difference to people with cancer in the region and across the UK.  

Karen, who also teaches screen acting for Manchester Actors’ Platform, added: “I Support Stand Up to Cancer because you are donating, fundraising, or volunteering to literally save lives.

"It’s as simple as that.”

Stand Up To Cancer is helping to transform the landscape of cancer therapy.

Since its launch in 2012, the campaign has raised more than £93 million, funding 64 clinical trials and research projects involving more than 13,000 cancer patients. 

Cancer Research UK spokesperson in the North West, Jemma Humphreys, said: “We’re very grateful to Karen for sharing her personal experience to help inspire more support, so our researchers can keep making new discoveries.  

“One-in-two of us will get cancer in our lifetime, but all of us can help beat it.

"That’s why we’re asking everyone to Stand Up To Cancer with us.

"Whether it’s choosing to donate, fundraise, or tackle the ups and downs of our squats challenge, if thousands of us take a stand we’ll speed up the progress of vital research – meaning more people live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.” 

The Stand Up To Cancer campaign will continue throughout October, with a collection of special programming airing on Channel 4 later in the month and culminating in a night of live television on Friday, November 3. 

To donate or fundraise, please visit: su2c.org.uk

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