I looked death in the eye when doctors told me I had killer cancer- a packet of crisps revealed the first warning sign

WHEN doctors told Hazel Smyth she had stage four cancer she felt like she was “looking death in the eye” and thought about planning her own funeral.

But the 45-year-old credits a packet of Walkers Prawn Cocktail crisps and their “tangy” flavour for helping uncover she had the disease.

Hazel Smyth noticed a stinging sensation on the right side of her tongue whenever she ate particularly flavoursome food[/caption]

Foods like Walkers Prawn Cocktail crisps set off the symptom[/caption]

When Hazel noticed this happening with more plain food, she underwent biopsies that uncovered she had tongue cancer[/caption]

Hazel had noticed a stinging sensation on the right side of her tongue whenever she ate particularly flavoursome food such as Chinese chicken curry or prawn cocktail crisps.

The she put it down to a mild allergy or intolerance, since the pain would subside after 10 minutes.

But when the civil servant noticed she was experiencing discomfort when eating plain food such as chocolate or tomatoes, she sought the advice of her GP.

Two biopsies confirmed the presence of abnormal cells, before Hazel was given a diagnosis of stage-one tongue cancer in August 2024.

Hazel, who lives near Belfast, Northern Ireland, said: “I was actually just eating prawn cocktail crisps and I thought the right side of my tongue was stinging.

“I looked at my tongue and there was nothing there – no redness or anything.

“Then it never happened again. A few months later I had a chicken curry from the Chinese and the tongue was stinging so much, I had to put cold water on my mouth.

“It was just a plain, mild curry. When I tried to eat the curry again, the same thing happened.

“It was always the right side of my tongue. It was a hot, stinging pain. It felt like my mouth was on fire and would last around 10 minutes.

“I just thought to myself maybe I just can’t eat this type of food anymore. Maybe I have an intolerance.

“If I wasn’t eating spicy food, I was fine. I had no other signs or symptoms.

“There was no redness or patches on my tongue.”

The following month Hazel underwent a surgery to cut out a section of her tongue, before doctors discovered the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes – meaning she had a 50 per cent survival rate.

Now classed as stage-four cancer, Hazel underwent a seven-hour operation in which surgeons removed two tumours from her lymph nodes.

Hazel said: “I couldn’t understand because they’d caught the cancer so early. Then they told me I had a 50 per cent chance of surviving five years.

“I thought I was dying. I felt like I was looking death in the eye. I felt am I going to have to plan my funeral?”

Hazel had part of her tongue cut out and two tumours removed from her lymph nodes[/caption]

Luckily, Hazel was told she was cancer-free in November 2024[/caption]

Hazel’s now urging anyone else to get any pain or changes in their mouth checked out by doctors[/caption]

Luckily, Hazel was told she was cancer-free in November 2024 – but believes she may not have survived without the warning signs given by certain spicy foods.

“I went to see a consultant two weeks later and was told it had been removed and I was now cancer-free but would have to go through preventative radiotherapy to make sure there were no micro-cells in my tongue or neck,” she said.

“I could’ve just put the whole thing down to an allergy and ignored it. It would’ve been a major surgery and spread further.

“That packet of crisps and curry helped save my life. It was my body telling me there was something wrong with me.

“I would tell anyone else to get any pain or changes in your mouth checked out by the doctors.”

Hazel is now planning on doing a sky dive in October to help raise money for Action Cancer.

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