'I thought my nosebleeds were just hay fever but I was left without a nose'

A mum who dismissed her nosebleeds as “hay fever” was devastated to discover she had cancer and needed her entire nose removed.

Ellen McCleary first started experiencing nosebleeds in July 2023 following a holiday, putting them down to hay fever – a condition she regularly battles with.

But when the nosebleeds began happening up to three times a day, the 46-year-old approached her GP and was given antibiotics for what was believed to be hay fever. It was only when Ellen started coughing up blood clots that she managed to get an ENT appointment at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in October 2023.

The mum-of-six had a biopsy and CT scan, which showed a malignant tumour hiding behind her nasal bone that was "creeping" towards her brain.

Ellen had surgery later that month and thought on