It’s been two years since Girls Aloud Sarah Harding tragically lost her life to breast cancer.
The singer died on September 5 2021, just one year after announcing her terminal diagnosis.
Here, as Girls Aloud’s Tangled Up concert airs on BBC Two tonight (September 2), we take a look at everything Sarah had to say after she learned she was dying.
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding was ‘positive’ in the face of her diagnosis
After her diagnosis in the summer of 2020, Sarah was initially adamant that news of the illness must not get out. But as she started to get recognised in hospital when she went in for treatment, Sarah decided to take charge.
In an interview with The Times, Sarah said: “I was really nervous. But people were noticing me at the hospital and writing about it on social media. I wanted to explain things in my own words. Once I did go public, the support was totally overwhelming and a real source of strength for me.”
‘It doesn’t feel real’
Strength, it turns out, defined Sarah’s final year, even down to her first breaking the news. Sarah took to Instagram to tell fans about the diagnosis.
On August 26 2020, she said: “There’s no easy way to say this and actually it doesn’t even feel real writing this, but here goes. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with breast cancer and a couple of weeks ago I received the devastating news that the cancer has advanced to other parts of my body. I’m currently undergoing weekly chemotherapy sessions and I am fighting as hard as I possibly can. I am doing my very best to keep positive and will keep you updated here with how I’m getting on.”
Writing her life story brought ‘positivity’ for Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding
In September 2020, Ebury Publishing asked Sarah if she’d like to write her life story, which she relished.
The Girls Aloud star said: “It’s given me something fun and positive to focus on while I’ve been stuck at home in between trips to the hospital for treatment.”
In the book, Hear Me Out, Sarah went into detail about her emotions during her cancer treatment. The book was published in March 2021.
‘I was a mess when they told me it was cancer’
Sarah wrote: “I was a mess when they told me it was breast cancer – like anyone would be. Being faced with your own mortality is not something you consider, but that’s how that moment felt for me. I just remember thinking, well, that’s it, game over.”
Sarah Harding on losing her breast
At one point Sarah was put in an induced coma for nearly two weeks after contracting sepsis. Sarah has a mastectomy to remove her breast but wasn’t well enough for reconstructive surgery, and wrote: “As much as I know it had to happen and I want to be brave, I can’t look at myself in the mirror any more. The loss of it breaks my heart.”
Doctors then discovered that Sarah’s cancer had spread to either her brain or the base of her spine, meaning her prognosis got worse.
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Sarah didn’t want to hide away
Sarah turned down radiotherapy on her skull because she didn’t want to lose her hair. The singer wrote: “It might seem vain thinking about my hair, but my thinking was that if there’s a chance I’ve only got six months, then I’ve got six months. Losing my hair probably wasn’t going to change that. I don’t want to feel like I have to spend whatever time I have left hiding away.”
Her last Christmas
Sarah was told that Christmas 2020 would probably be her last.
She wrote: “I’m trying to live and enjoy every second of my life, however long it may be. Silly little things make me happy: my lie-ins, watching Family Guy on TV through the night when I can’t sleep, roasting a chicken for Mum and me on a Sunday, if I’m feeling up to it.”
Sarah passed away on September 5 2021 aged 39. Her mum Marie said: “She fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day.”
Her final single Wear It Like A Crown raised money for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
Girls Aloud: Tangled Up Live from the O2 is on BBC Two tonight (September 2) at 9.40pm.
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