Personal trainer shares 'healthy' photo taken hours before shock lung cancer diagnosis

On the outside, Vicky Veness is a picture of health. A young, non-smoker with an active lifestyle and healthy diet.

But after her own devastating diagnosis, the 30-year-old personal trainer is warning others that cancer doesn't always make you look sick on the outside.

She then shared a healthy-looking photo of herself which, she revealed, was taken only a few hours before doctors told her she had Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

“When you have cancer, you won’t necessarily look ill on the outside. The symptoms might be much more subtle and only show themselves occasionally,” Veness, from Cheltenham, London, wrote on Facebook.

She had gone to GPs with a persistent cough but because she appeared healthy and didn't smoke, they had never considered lung cancer, she said.

It took doctors 18 months to find a diagnosis, after initially brushing off her symptoms as asthma. Unfortunately, by that time the cancer had spread.

“The moral of the story is this, if you feel unwell for whatever reason, it doesn't matter how silly you might think it might be, see your doctor, question everything and keep going back until you get the answers you need,” she added.

Veness says she is now focusing on fighting this deadly disease.

“This has been the most emotionally and physically challenging week of my life, but now it's time to fight this!”