EastEnders star Kara Tointon, 41, undergoes double mastectomy
Former EastEnders star Kara Tointon has revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy.
The actress found fame as Dawn Swann on the BBC soap, a role she played for four years between 2005 and 2009.
Introduced alongside the wider Miller family, Dawn conned her neighbours out of money and being kidnapped by twisted Dr May Wright (Amanda Drew).
Her exit story saw her sailing into the sunset (quite literally) with Gary Hobbs (Ricky Groves).
After leaving Albert Square, Kara went on to win Strictly Come Dancing, and appear in ITV dramas The Bill and Mr Selfridge.
She's also had a number of theatre roles, including a live version of The Sound of Music which was transmitted on television in 2015.
Taking to Instagram today, she revealed that she's chosen to reduce her risk of cancer after discovering she's a carrier of the BRCA1 gene, which increases the chances of being diagnosed.
Speaking in a video to her 151,000 followers, Kara explained that her mum passed away from ovarian cancer seven years ago. The star has has now undergone a double mastectomy and had her fallopian tubes removed.
'This is personal, but important,' she wrote alongside the clip.
'I am sharing with you my journey with the BRCA1 gene. It's about understanding, choices, and taking control. Hope this helps someone out there.'
She goes on to explain: 'You may have heard of the BRCA genes type 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means that I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.
'Back in 2018 when my mum was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, I was asked to take a genetics test.
'There is a history of both cancers in my family but for various reasons including generational trauma of which I'll talk more about another time, we hadn't looked into it until that point.'
Kara continued: 'But it was put to us, we took the test and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene.
'I was pregnant with my first child at the time, knew I wanted more children if possible so over the next couple of years I was invited to various meetings by the NHS to really become informed and to understand all my options.
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'Last year having had my second son in 2021 and deciding that our family was complete, I underwent two preventative surgeries. The first a double mastectomy and the second a two part protector study, a trial.
'They believe that ovarian cancer begins in the Fallopian tubes so by removing them first checking out you can remove the ovaries later.' More Trending
Concluding her video, she added: 'I wasn't an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made. I can now with hindsight talk about it properly.
'I wanted to talk about it because hearing other people's experience, helped so much and knowledge is power, communication is key, getting to know our bodies, our cycles is only a good thing, but I'll be talking about this a lot more.'
Kara's EastEnders alter ego Dawn was referenced in the serial last year, when her on-screen brother Mickey (Joe Swash) made a surprise return.
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Having separated from Garry, she was now operating an eco-friendly B&B business in the Cotswolds with her family.
If you've got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we'd love to hear from you.
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