'I didn't think the doctors would find anything, I had no symptoms - within weeks I was having surgery'

When Susan Williams received a phone call from the NHS, inviting her to come for a routine screening, she never thought that just weeks later she’d be diagnosed with cancer. But within weeks of the appointment, she was having lung surgery.

Susan, who moved to Blackpool three years ago, received a phone call from the NHS inviting her to attend a 'targeted lung health check'. She said: “I went for the scan, and it was really convenient because it was in Blackpool, and took less than an hour.

“All the time I was thinking ‘they’re not going to find anything’, because I had no symptoms at all.” Soon after, Susan received shocking news.

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Susan was soon told that the scan had detected an abnormality on her left lung, which was possibly cancer, and just a few weeks later she had surgery. She said: “When I came to, in intensive care, the consultant came to see me to confirm it was cancer – stage one - and that they had successfully removed it.

"The treatment was absolutely fantastic, so quick and painless, it was like a whirlwind.”

Having caught the cancer at its earliest stage, treating Susan was less invasive than if the cancer was caught at a later stage. Now, 66-year-old Susan is now urging people to take up the offer when the NHS invites them: “If you get the opportunity to go to the targeted lung health check, go for it.

"It’s an hour out of your day and could save your life.”

Launched in 2019, the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check programme has brought mobile cancer catching technology is an plan intended to make it easier for those most