Sarah Greene, host of The Finish Line on BBC One, has previously opened up about losing her mum to cancer.
Former Going Live! presenter Sarah, 66, was born into a family whose careers were also in TV.
Her dad Harry Greene was regarded as the UK’s first DIY expert on the box. And her mum, actress Marjie Lawrence, said the first words broadcast on ITV as she appeared in soap Round the Redways.
Sadly, however, Sarah lost her mum in 2010. And her death came less than a month after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Sarah Greene on her mum’s passing
In a letter to the Stroud Times a couple of years ago, Sarah urged readers to press for further awareness about the condition.
She reflected on how if her mother had known more about symptoms, Marjie may have lived longer.
Sarah wrote in February 2022: “Women are being failed as the awareness crisis in ovarian cancer deepens. Symptoms of ovarian cancer are being ignored – both by those experiencing them and their GPs.”
And as part of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month at the time, Sarah encouraged members of the public to sign open letters to tell governments what is needed. She said that we “desperately need to make progress in people’s knowledge of the symptoms”.
‘Marjie might be alive today’
Sarah also shared her family’s own devastating experience of ovarian cancer as she considered mortality rates.
She wrote: “In 2010 my mother, the actress Marjie Lawrence, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just three weeks before she died. Had we and her doctors been aware of the symptoms, Marjie might be alive today.
“If diagnosed at the earliest stage, 9 in 10 women will survive. But two thirds of women are diagnosed late, when the cancer is harder to treat.”
Two thirds of women are diagnosed late, when the cancer is harder to treat
Furthermore, Sarah went on to note the main symptoms of ovarian cancer included persistent bloating, feeling full or having difficulty eating, stomach pain, and needing to urinate more often or more urgently.
For more information, read these NHS resources about ovarian cancer.
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Read more: The Finish Line’s Sarah Greene on falling in love with late husband Mike Smith’s ‘oldest friend’
The Finish Line is next on BBC One today, Wednesday July 24, at 4.30pm.
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