Cancer charity echoes star’s warning over early detection
Terminally-ill Sarah Harding says she delayed seeing doctor due to Covid
SARAH Harding’s terminal cancer diagnosis has highlighted the importance of early detection of the disease, according to a Northern Ireland cancer charity.
The Girls Aloud singer (39) revealed that a doctor told her that last Christmas would “probably be her last”. She had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, which has since spread.
In her autobiography, to be published this week, Sarah tells how she put off getting a lump checked out last year because of the Covid pandemic.
Gareth Kirk, chief executive of Action Cancer, urged people to be aware of the risks.
He said: “Sarah highlights that young women can and do get breast cancer, it’s for this reason that at Action Cancer we provide a free breast screening service for women aged 40 to 49, the only charity in the UK and Ireland to do so.
“It is very important that all women come forward for breast screening either at Action Cancer or when called to do so by the NHS. For women who are not eligible for breast screening, the charity encourages women to be breast aware, urging them to self-examine regularly for any changes in their breasts or for any unusual discharges or pain.”
He added: “The current Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to either postpone a breast screening appointment or delaying seeing a GP. For women detected with breast cancer, the sooner the appropriate treatment path can commence the better the outcome will be.”
Lisburn mum of two Shauna Lawson, who was just 35 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last February, has also urged women to be vigilant.
She added: “My heart just sank when I read about Sarah’s situation. Early detection really makes the difference between living and dying, I would say to any woman who is worried not to put off going to the doctor because it isn’t to stop you from having cancer but if you get yourself checked and it turns out you don’t have cancer, you have peace of mind. But if it is cancer, the sooner you find out the better because you can start treatment.
“This time last year I was waiting to find out if my mastectomy was going to be delayed because of Covid and thankfully it wasn’t and I’ve been told I have an 87% chance of it never returning.”
In August, Sarah shared a selfie from hospital to social media confirming she had cancer.
In an extract from her memoir Hear Me Out shared in The Times, the singer revealed that she underwent a mastectomy and intensive chemotherapy after her diagnosis. While it initially “seemed like the chemo was working”, the cancer has spread further, with a secondary tumour growing on either the base of her spine or her brain.
The singer is speaking out after delaying going to the doctor when she experienced pain in her breast and continued: “In December my doctor told me that the upcoming Christmas would probably be my last. I don’t want an exact prognosis. I don’t know why anyone would want that. Comfort and being as pain-free as possible is what’s important to me now.”
She has ruled out radiotherapy as she doesn’t want to lose her hair when she may only have months left to live.
A EUROSCEPTIC MP has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stop payments to the EU until issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved.
The UK is currently still making payments to the EU as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Some £20bn is set to be paid to the bloc over the next two years, with more to follow.
Conservative MP Mark Francois leads the party’s European Research Group and suggested the PM halt payments until the protocol is addressed.
Unionists believe the protocol, introduced to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, cuts Northern Ireland off from the rest of the UK. It keeps Northern Ireland in the European Single Market, aligned with the EU on trade rules.
Mr Francois told the Sunday Telegraph the money was ‘Danegeld’, a land tax levied in Anglo-saxon England during the reign of King Ethelred to raise funds for protection against Danish invaders.
“Since we left the transition period the EU’S attitude has been increasing bellicose,” he said. “First they criticised our ‘British’ vaccine and then attacked us for not giving them enough of it, then they triggered Article 16, in some overnight spasm, to create a hard border they had sworn to avoid and now they are petulantly refusing to ratify a trade deal which it took a year to negotiate.
“As Brits, we traditionally honour our obligations but you have to ask yourself why are we continuing to pay this Danegeld to people who only treat us with open contempt in return?”
During a visit to Northern Ireland on Friday the PM admitted that the current working of the protocol was “unbalanced” and said his Government was working to address unionist concerns.
Meanwhile, Arlene Foster has said the UK is damaging itself to appease the EU. The First Minister said: “There is damage happening to the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreement. It has also damaged the UK internal market by putting in place a system to protect the EU single market. What we are doing is damaging our own country.”
She said food from Great Britain heading for Northern Ireland, like lasagne, would be marked for sale in sterling so posed no risk of entering the Republic of Ireland where they use euros.
She said the EU was imposing third-party checks, similar to if somewhere like China wanted to send goods into its single market. The DUP leader added: “It is completely disproportionate to what is necessary.”