Coronation Street's Tracy Shaw 'grateful to be alive' to celebrate birthday amid breast cancer battle
Coronation Street alum Tracy Shaw turned 53 on Monday (27.07.26) with loved ones as her breast cancer battle continues.
Coronation Street's Tracy Shaw is "grateful to be alive" as she celebrates turning 53 amid her breast cancer battle.
The actress - who played Maxine Peacock on the ITV soap from 1995 until 2003 - was all smiles as she marked her special day with loved ones on Monday (27.07.26).
Tracy took to Instagram and posted a joyous shot of herself with family, as well as a video showing some of her presents, with the caption: "Visit from my brother, #mrshaw, karl shaw. Luca just back from Truck festival, preparing for next weekends festival.
"Thankyou #_lisa_ Dawson for the most amazing gifts, from a breast cancer survivor who just knows what to buy.
"Never been as grateful to be alive on a birthday. Looking forward to next years celebration. (sic)"
The entertainer - who has sons, Luca, and Louis with her ex-partner, Ashley Poundall - added the hashtags "#humbled, #birthday, #grateful".
Karl led the birthday tributes for his "inspirational" sister in the post's comments section.
He penned: "My amazing sister. So super proud of you. Absolute ball of strength and inspiration. Loads of love. We’ll be on that beach in Wales before you know it."
Tracy's celebrity pals, including former Coronation Street stars Denise Welch, 68, and Shobna Gulati, 59, also sent their birthday wishes.
Meanwhile, one fan penned: "Happy birthday beautiful lady. Next year will be so much better and something to celebrate. Stay strong we all love you from afar. Big hugs. xx (sic)"
A second supporter typed: "Happy Birthday beautiful lady. You deserve nothing but the best!! You look gorgeous Tracy. Love and blessings sweet lady. xxxx (sic)"
And a third follower wrote: "Happy Birthday Tracey! Sending lots of positive vibes and big birthday wishes."
In April, Tracy announced her breast cancer diagnosis in a video.
She told her Instagram followers: "I have come on just to explain a situation that is happening in my life. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Originally, I was going to be having surgery in two weeks, but because my results have come back that I am HER2 positive (positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), it means I have to have chemo for five months before then, hopefully surgery to have the lumps removed and take the lymph glands out so they can do some more tests. And possibly more surgery before radiotherapy.”
She thanked her fans for checking in with her after she took time off social media to come to terms with her diagnosis privately.
She said: “Thank you for messaging me to check how I am because I haven't been present on Instagram. That was due to during Lent, I came off scrolling, I came off social media, and put my phone down.
“I spent some time away from technology, which has helped with dealing with this news.”
Tracy also admitted she has struggled with the idea of losing her hair, but is determined to beat her cancer.
She said: “It doesn't mean it's been easy coming to terms with, and I know it sounds really trivial, but losing my hair.
“I am truly grateful that I have this opportunity to be able to hopefully be free from cancer as well.”
Tracy also revealed in her video that she is on a 12-step programme, having “recovered from many addictions”.
She went on: “Anorexia, bulimia, alcoholism, drug addiction, co-dependency, love addiction, you name it, I have been addicted to it, and I have recovered from it.”
She captioned her post: “My diagnosis of breast cancer. So the journey begins... Love to everyone who is also going through this journey, looking forward to hearing from you all, especially you amazing survivors.”
According to the National Health Service (NHS), HER2 is a protein that controls cell growth; in some cancers, too much HER2 causes cells to divide and spread faster.
