'I thought it was a cyst': The early signs of Sarah Harding's breast cancer and symptoms to know
Sarah Harding, who died in October last year.
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women in Ireland, after skin cancer, according to the HSE. It is most common in older women but it can affect people of all ages.
Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding died from breast cancer at age 39 in October 2021. Her former bandmates, Cheryl, Kimberly Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts joined fans and supporters in Race For Life For Sarah at the weekend, a 5k run to celebrate Harding’s life and raise money for breast cancer.
Cheryl said “it doesn’t feel like she’s gone at all” when she spoke at the event in Hyde Park.
In Sarah's book Hear Me Out, which was published in 2021, she spoke about receiving her cancer diagnosis.
"At first I thought it was just a cyst. I’d been playing my guitar a lot, and I thought the strap had probably irritated an area around my breast.
"The trouble was, the pain was getting worse. It got so bad that I couldn’t sleep in a bed any more. I slept on the sofa, popping painkillers like they were Smarties. I really overdid it, but the pain was overwhelming. Eventually, my skin started to bruise, and by now I was terrified."
Sarah wrote that learning of her cancer was compounded by the fact it was during Covid lockdowns.
"One day I woke up realising that I’d been in denial.
"Yes, there was a lockdown, yes, there was a pandemic, but it was almost as if I’d been using that as an excuse not to face up to the fact that something was very wrong."
Sarah said she prayed during all of the tests that it wasn't cancer.
"I think the fact that what I had was so painful gave me some hope it might not be. I’d read that cancer lumps are often not painful, which is why I was hoping against hope that what I had was just a cyst of some kind."
HSE.ie outlines the symptoms of breast cancer to look out for:
- A new lump or area of thickened tissue in either breast that was not there before
- A change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- Bloodstained discharge from either of your nipples
- A lump or swelling in either of your armpits
- Dimpling on the skin of your breasts
- A rash on or around your nipple
- A change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast
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