03 November 2023 , 23:00
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Sarah Ferguson has shared her biggest fear after she was diagnosed with cancer.
The Duchess of York confirmed she had breast cancer June this year, which was discovered in a routine mammogram. The 64-year-old made an emotional appearance on Loose Women on Friday, and made vital appeal to viewers to not miss their screenings.
Detailing her own journey since being told she had cancer last year, the 64-year-old recalled how she was driving from Royal Free Hospital in London when she began to think of all of the things she would miss if she died of the illness.
Sarah Ferguson has opened up on her breast cancer diagnosis (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Her biggest fear of all, she said, was that she would not live long enough to see her grandchildren grow up. Sarah is grandmother to Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's two-year-old daughter, Sienna, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's two-year-old son, August, as well as their five-month-old baby, Ernest.
She told co-panellists told co-stars Christine Lampard, Brenda Edwards and Coleen Nolan: "The drive from the Royal Free Hospital, I'll never forget because of course your mind goes into, 'oh my goodness, I've got to have a mastectomy' and you look it up and it's all terrifying and 'this is what's going to happen' and then, 'I'm not going to see my grandchildren grow up'. That's what goes through your head."
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Sarah also revealed that she "almost missed the screening appointment that saved my life", as she didn't want to get the train into London on a hot day this summer - but was persuaded to by her sister Jane. She had told daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie beforehand that doctors had been 'worried about something' before she got her full diagnosis, and said she was 'incredibly lucky' to have received the treatment she did.
Sarah moved on to make direct appeal to people watching at home to make sure they attend their routine mammograms, and said the one that she had prior to her diagnosis had been all-clear. Her cancer had also been "completely symptom-free", she added, and she did not feel a lump. Looking down the lens, the Duchess urged: "Please, please, please go get get your screening. Please."