Bond Girl Fiona Fullerton Joins Dentists And Patients At Mouth Cancer Awareness Walk
Bond girl Fiona Fullerton joined crowds of dentists, nurses, public health figures and mouth cancer survivors to take part in an oral cancer awareness walk, which took place at Cheltenham Racecourse this weekend.
The actress, who also appeared on BBC1’s hit Saturday night show, Strictly Come Dancing, joined a crowd of more than 200 people for the walk, which was organised by the Mouth Cancer Foundation. Afterwards, there was an awareness seminar to highlight the causes and risk factors and symptoms of mouth cancer.
The walkers raised in excess of £3,000 for the charity, which works to educate people about mouth cancer and find ways to fight the deadly disease.
Mark Smith, honorary secretary for Gloucestershire Independent Dentists, said that the event was a chance to raise awareness of mouth cancer and to support the Mouth Cancer Foundation, which works extremely hard to raise the profile of a disease, which has become more prevalent in the UK in the last decade.
Eva Grayzel, a mouth cancer survivor from the USA, who took part in the walk, said that she regularly helps out charities at home in America and wanted to do more to support charities in the UK. The walk was a great way to meet other people who are in the same boat and to hopefully raise the profile of mouth cancer so that more cases are prevented or diagnosed at an early stage.
Mr Smith stated that awareness is a key issue with mouth cancer, as the disease can progress rapidly and the chances of treating cancerous cells successfully depend heavily on the time of diagnosis. With early diagnosis and treatment, the chances of survival are much higher and this is why it is so important for people to be aware of the symptoms and signs and to visit their dentist on a regular basis. Dentists are also eager for patients to be wary of the causes and risk factors, as many are lifestyle-based. Patients who drink and smoke, for example, are up to 30 times more likely to develop head and neck cancer than those who drink rarely and never smoke.
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