Sarah Ferguson vows to 'protect her truth' as she admits to being 'frightened' in cancer battle
Sarah Ferguson has spoken out about her dual cancer battle, saying she was "frightened" but determined to "protect her truth". It was an important day for the Duchess of York as she became the Patron of Prevent Breast Cancer in Manchester – just ahead of her 65th birthday on October 15. It's a significant event which has focused her mindset, she exclusively told OK!
After being diagnosed and undergoing a successful mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer, the Duchess' involvement comes as the Nightingale Centre in Manchester pushes to raise the final £600,000 to secure the future of the National Breast Imaging Academy. Alongside Coronation Street stars and fellow Loose Women, Sally Dynevor and Sue Cleaver, the Duchess spent the morning touring the centre, meeting patients and sharing stories of her own cancer battle.
After previously revealing on her podcast Tea Talks with her close friend Sarah Thomson that her breast cancer surgery made her want to start "fighting for Sarah" and focus on "putting Sarah first", the Duchess explained how her way of thinking has shifted.
READ MORE:Strictly's Shirley Ballas almost quit career after horror 'bullying'
READ MORE:This Morning viewers incensed as they brand tea drinkers 'the new smokers'
Speaking ahead of her big day, Sarah explained: "My mindset going forward is to not be self-full but to be self love. If you don't keep your boundaries for yourself, who is going to do it for you? If you don't keep your authentic truth, who is going to do it for you?"
Looking back at her worries ahead of the podcast launch, the Duchess said: "I was so frightened to do that podcast, Sarah [Thomson] gave me enough strength and she encouraged me to do it and, of course, it was the right thing to do. We need to have more self-love and have the boundaries to take a moment to ourselves."
Sign up to OK!'s royal newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
The Duchess then went on to visit the set of Coronation Street with actress Sally Dynevor, who plays Sally Metcalfe. The star was treated at the Nightingale Centre when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, was full of praise for the Duchess' immediate determination to help the charity in any way she could.
After she approached the Duchess informally backstage at Loose Women, Sally exclusively told OK!: "It was an off the cuff mark that I thought I just had this feeling because Sarah's very warm and I suddenly thought, I need to tell her what we're doing up here in Manchester because it's so important and she's been through breast cancer, so she understands completely.
"I just said, Would you come up to see my charity and breast cancer? And she said, 'Absolutely'. I told her about the breast screening academy that we're raising the money for, and we need to raise 600,000 and she said, I'll help you raise it. And I instantly knew she was going to do it.
"She's very kind and warm, and she's been through breast cancer. She knows exactly what it feels like. She knows the importance of breast screening so when I got a phone call saying that she would come in October, I just thought this is amazing for the charity."
Elsewhere during the engagement, the Duchess said: “I think a lot of people are frightened to talk. They’re frightened that they don’t know where to go or what to do.
“Sally [Dynevor] is brilliant, and I think if it really helps to talk about it, and it helps more people not be frightened… that’s a good, good job. What I noticed today was I had a few private conversations with patients and they couldn’t get over that I was here having had a mastectomy, and that I said, ‘I’ve had a mastectomy. Here I am’.
“One of them in particular said, ‘oh, so it wasn’t as frightening as you being led to believe?’. And I said, ‘No, it’s OK, just get good lymph drainage in after the operation’. I think that’s crucial, because it is nothing worse than that fear. I had that fear as soon as I was diagnosed, I had that fear of death. You think it’s a death sentence. It’s not.”
Asked how she was doing following her treatment, the duchess said: “I’m doing very well, thank you. If I was talking Gen Z I’d say ‘slay’.”
The charity today launches a public appeal as it aims to raise £600,000 to secure the future of the National Breast Imaging Academy in Manchester - which will train 50 new breast imaging specialists a year to benefit and strengthen breast services across the UK, as well as increasing screening capacity in Manchester by 13,000 appointments annually.
Commenting on her new patronage, Sarah Ferguson said: “I know first-hand what it feels like to hear the words ‘breast cancer’ and learn that you are facing a life-changing diagnosis, course of treatment and recovery. It’s the news everyone dreads but I consider myself one of the lucky ones, because my cancer was caught early at a routine mammogram which meant that my prognosis was good.
“It’s thanks to my mammogram that I’m here today, so I can’t overstate how important it is that women go for their routine appointments whenever they are called up. It’s extremely worrying that a third of women are missing their screening at the moment. The fact is that the NHS screening programme is also under significant pressure from staffing shortfalls and the future of this programme could be at risk if we don’t act now to protect it. The National Breast Imaging Academy offers a solution: training new experts and increasing screening capacity to protect our national breast screening programme and save lives in the years ahead.”
