Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine, the soap star spoke candidly about her own experience witnessing the effects of Alzheimer's disease first hand.
The actress lost her own grandmother to the condition when Sally was just 18.
Now an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society, the 42-year-old explained how she fears developing the condition herself.
She explains she worries about it everyday, saying:
“And my mum worries about it every day - I mean my mum’s 67 now and looks great… But she worries about it all the time.
“Me and my brother have talked about it because we just...what Alzheimer's does is takes your memories away every day and when you think about it, all we are, are our memories and our ability and both of those things are attacked every single day and it's absolutely sick.
“So I suppose I fight for Alzheimer's because I'm so selfish really, I’m worrying about it [for me].”
Talking about how it impacted her watching her own grandmother’s memories and health fade, the mum-of-two said:
“I was 18 and I was just going into university...when she [grandmother] died. It was five years before she got diagnosed so I was quite young really, but the burden fell on my mum and it fell on grandad and there was nothing then [to support them].
“The name Alzheimer’s had only just come about - it was such a dark time.
“My gran turned into a 5 ft 6 toddler it was awful, but there's ways of helping now.”
And now the actress is taking part in a new campaign with the charity in order to bring to light the impact Alzheimer’s has on women, and how those around them are affected too, often having to become carers for their loved ones.
“2,500 women are working mothers and then their family member gets diagnosed and they have to take that on as well. So basically what we're trying to say at the Alzheimer's Society is that...talk to each other and listen to each other and ring people up and try and get help really, because you don't have to do this on your own.”
**To find out more about the campaign, see HERE. **