Sarah Ferguson says cancer diagnoses felt ‘like a death sentence’

Sarah Ferguson has said receiving multiple cancer diagnoses just months apart felt “like a death sentence” when doctors delivered the news.

The Duchess of York, 65, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma last January – a shock diagnosis that came six months after she had treatment for breast cancer and underwent breast reconstruction surgery.

Ferguson admitted the experience was “traumatic” but said that being in her sixties at the time of the two back-to-back health scares meant she had the “maturity and life experience” to cope.

Writing in The Times in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust’s campaign #AndYoungPeople, the duchess voiced concerns that teenagers aren’t taken as seriously by doctors as she was.

“I was 63 when I was diagnosed with cancer for the first time and cancer at any age is traumatic,” she said. “But as adults we have maturity and life experience to help us advocate for ourselves and cope with challenges.

“We can seek help if we need it and most importantly our voices are, sadly, often taken more seriously.”

Nearly half of teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer had to see their GPs more than three times before they were referred to specialists, research from 2023 found.

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Ferguson, a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust alongside her daughters Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 35, will visit a cancer unit supported by the charity this Wednesday (23 April).

Her visit comes after the Teenage Cancer Trust delivered a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting asking for teenagers to be considered in the National Cancer Plan for England.

The Department of Health and Social Care launched a call for evidence to help shape a national cancer plan in February.

The blueprint is expected to be announced later this year and will outline the strategy to improve cancer care in the UK, which experts warn has reached “critical breaking point” in recent weeks.

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Earlier this year, Ferguson opened up about the “dark places” she went to after her double cancer diagnoses, declaring that the health scare felt like a “bomb going off in my life”.

“One diagnosis is enough to deal with, but I had two in the space of a year. I don’t mind admitting that my mind went to some dark places, reflecting on my own mortality,” she said.

Ferguson added: “My family have been an immense support to me through this period. I’ve used meditation and mindfulness to help stay positive and balanced.”