¡¡¡¡A mother has revealed how she accidentally saved her own life when she coughed up - an inoperable cancerous tumour.

¡¡¡¡Claire Osborn, 37, felt a tickle in her throat moments before hacking up a 2cm long heart-shaped lump into a tissue.She took the growth to her GP and a biopsy revealed it was metastatic adenocarcinoma- an aggressive throat and mouth cancer.

¡¡¡¡Claire was initially given a 50 percent chance of survival but further tests revealed there was no trace of any other cancer in her entire body.

¡¡¡¡Doctors believe the tumour grew on a stalk at the back of her throat which dislodged during her coughing fit.

¡¡¡¡Mother-of-six Claire said: The consultant turned round to me and said It appears you have coughed up your cancer. Congratulations.

¡¡¡¡Claire was at home with her family in Coventry when she felt a scratching sensation in her throat on October 11 last year.After five minutes coughing she felt something dislodge and fly out of her mouth.She said: I put a tissue over my mouth and felt something fleshy come up my throat.It looked like a strip of liver. I didnt really think too much about it and threw it away.The next day I was in the car with my son and the same thing happened again but this time the lump was much bigger, about 2cm long.

¡¡¡¡I knew something was very wrong so I went straight to my GP who sent the tissue sample away for tests.Claire went on holiday for two weeks with her lorry driver husband Kevin, 53, and when she returned home in November, doctors told she had cancer.

¡¡¡¡She said: The consultant told me the tissue sample was cancer.They said the cancer was inoperable .

¡¡¡¡But doctors at University Hospital Coventry were stunned when a PET scan - which detects tumours located in other areas of the body - came back negative.A CT scan also revealed Claire was clear of tumours .

¡¡¡¡Head and Neck surgeon Gary Walton, who treated Claire, said: This patient basically coughed up her cancerous tumour.