UTV stalwart ‘rings the bell’ on her cancer journey

Presenter Pamela Ballantine has shared a video showing her ‘ringing the bell’ to signal the end of her radiotherapy.

A clearly delighted Pamela rings the bell to a round of applause and cheers, raising her arms into the air and curtseying as she laughs.

The milestone is a welcome point for any cancer patient – allowing them to celebrate the end of treatment for the disease.

The popular 64-year-old UTV Life Host, who is a household name across Northern Ireland, spoke publicly last month for the first time about her cancer diagnosis.

Pamela revealed she had received her diagnosis in December last year after a routine mammogram and urged all women to attend for their screening appointment when called to attend.

“It was absolutely a huge shock because I didn’t have a lump,” she told former UTV presenter Alison Fleming, during a sit-down interview.

Pamela said she was called back for a follow-up appointment after her initial mammogram and she was stunned at the speed and efficiency of the breast clinic at Linenhall Street in Belfast city centre, during which she had a series of diagnostic tests.

She was subsequently called back and told she had breast cancer.

She said: “It came as a hell of a shock and I was very glad that I brought my sister with me. Leaving I was balling my lamps out and she was being very stoic.”

Pamela also opened up about the gruelling treatment she endured, including chemotherapy which resulted in painful mouth ulcers, and caused her to lose her hair and toenails.

But posting alongside the video of her ‘ringing the bell’ on her Instagram today, an overjoyed Pamela said: “Another milestone. Radiotherapy completed and the bell rung at Belfast City Hospital Cancer Centre. Thank you to all the team for looking after me so well.”