BRADFORD singer Abi Otway has turned to music to highlight how her husband saved her life.

Abi discovered she had a lump the size of a pea in her breast after her husband Marc felt it as they cuddled. She was diagnosed with Grade 2-3 breast cancer and had recent surgery to remove the lump.

Now recovering, in self isolation, at her Low Moor home, she and Marc, who are in local band Mookie + the Bab, have post a ‘Cheeky Fondle’ song on Facebook - to the tune of Matt Lucas’s Thank You Baked Potato internet hit.

Abi, 34, says that, although their song is fun, it has a serious message. “I never checked my boobs because, like a lot of women, I was scared of what I might find. If Marc hadn’t found the lump, it might have been too late,” she said. “I couldn’t feel it at all when I was sitting down or standing up. I only felt it while lying down, on my side. When Marc found it I knew it was something sinister, but the doctor initially struggled to find a lump and told me to go back in 14 days. I’m young and healthy, with no family history of breast cancer.”

Abi was referred to the breast clinic at St Luke’s Hospital. “I had an ultrasound then a biopsy and a mammogram, which didn’t show up the lump. It was under the breast, quite far back. I had to wait a week then I was diagnosed, on February 27.”

The next day, she and Marc had a concert booked in Bradford. “That was a very hard gig to do,” said Abi, who managed to have surgery shortly before the Government put the UK on lockdown. “I feel lucky that I had my operation on March 10, because so many people with cancer are now having their treatments put on hold. It’s a horrible situation to be in,” she said. “I was already isolating, as I didn’t want to catch the virus from anyone ahead of my surgery. But it’s at times like this that you really want to see family and friends, and that can’t happen right now.

“But then I think I’m lucky because Marc and I were meant to be spending March singing on a cruise ship in Tahiti. It’s something we don’t normally do, but we were being paid and thought we’d treat it as a holiday too. We could have ended up stuck on a ship, with my lump going untreated.”

While Abi doesn’t need chemotherapy, because the cancer hasn’t spread to her lymph nodes, she is due to start radiotherapy later this month. “That’s unless I get the virus, or they don’t have enough staff,” she said.

She is urging women to check their breasts for lumps or other abnormal signs. “If your partner is checking, that helps, but if you’re on your own I’d say schedule a check into your diary,” said Abi. “And don’t just do it standing up or sitting down - you need to check yourself lying down and on your side too.

“I try to eat healthily and I’m generally careful about my lifestyle. My cancer was hormone-related, so I’ve been looking into what kind of things can affect hormones.”

Fitness instructor Abi has worked as an actor, appearing in Coronation Street and Hollyoaks, as well as a singer. As Issimo, she and Marc gained a UK-wide fanbase and now they have a new band, Mookie + the Bab, and plan to release a single shortly.

“We’re a four-piece, with a stripped back, acoustic folk sound,” said Abi. “We can’t get in the studio at the moment but we’re going to release a live single, called I Will Be. It’s an upbeat song, which I think we all need right now.”