In her own words Ann Williams had always had a “strong immune system” and “very good health”. A career on stage, of treading the boards, singing and acting, had kept her active, and at the age of 73 she had avoided any serious illness. But a lingering ailment in 2016 was cause for concern, so much so that she consulted her GP, sought reassurance it wasn’t anything serious.

“I got a chest infection, which I never got, even as a smoker. And I thought ‘oh god, this is not clearing up’, not thinking anything of it at the time,” she says. “I went to the doctor, he said, ‘your chest is not good at all, you’re going to have an x-ray done, when I went back for the results I was told I had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

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