Georgie Crawford: What a powerful message for Sarah Harding to have left the world

'Listening to that voice in your head is the most important thing you can do for your health. We've learned that from Sarah Harding this week'

Crawford knew she didn't feel well in 2017 but told herself she was fine, until she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Picture: Naoise Culhane.

Life is full of challenges and there have been many along the way, like my husband Jamie getting diagnosed with MS in 2012 and my breast cancer diagnosis in 2017. At the time you don't know how you'll get through but as you come through those times and grow and heal, I think it gives you faith that you can get through anything. 

In a way, it's made me less afraid of life's uncertainties. I have great comfort in everything I've learned from those experiences. They were awful at the time but thankfully, we have come through them.

Jamie gives me so much good advice every day. During chemotherapy, he used to tell me to focus on the end goal and that really helped me feel like I wouldn't be in that time forever. When you're in treatment it just feels like it's your whole life and that things will never go back to normal. 

When he would tell me to focus on the end goal it would remind me that one day treatment would be over and I'd get to rebuild.

The lesson I would pass on would be to always listen to your gut. Before I got sick I always pushed that little voice in the back of my head away. In the lead-up to my diagnosis, I didn't feel well but kept telling myself I was fine. I think listening to that voice is one of the most important things we can do for our health. We've learned that from Sarah Harding this week. 

She said to get checked if you're worried about something and what a powerful message for her to have left the world? The more we talk about things, the more open we can be, and the more we can feel safe to tell our truth and get checked and acknowledge the things that might be happening in our lives.

I’m so lucky to have my family. I grew up with my mum, my stepdad, and my two brothers in Dublin. We used to call ourselves the party of five. When I married Jamie we became the party of six and since then it's just grown and grown. We're all really close and supportive and we just have so much fun together.

Jamie and Georgie Crawford got married in 2015

My earliest memory is being in my grandparents’ house. I remember playing so many fun games with Papa and there were always cakes in the oven and I would try on my nana's shoes. Those memories are so special. It brings me pure joy to watch my daughter Pia with my mum and stepdad now.

My proudest achievement is the life I’ve built with Jamie and Pia. We live at the foot of the mountains and go out for walks and swim and just spend time in nature. It's really a life that I never imagined that I'd have. We love each other so much. There are ups and downs but we're stronger than over.

My brother and I used to play radio growing up and we would record shows on our Talkboy recorders and pretend we were Colm Hayes. When I went into journalism in college I just felt at home. I really found my tribe in radio. I loved working there and setting up my podcast has been a dream come true. 

To have grown my business, The Good Glow, and now have my podcast, I wake up feeling lucky every day. The Good Glow is a wonderful community of women who support and listen and want to learn from each other. I'm so proud of bringing them together. It's honestly the greatest privilege of my life.

People really surprise me, their stories and their resilience and what they have found their way back from. I hear these amazing stories on my podcast about all of these mountains that people have to climb, yet they survive and thrive. It's incredible.

I hope I'm best at being a mum. I try to be Pia’s best friend and to champion her every day and build her self-worth. Being there for her is my priority. I think it's because of the relationship that I have with my mum. She’s my best friend. I ring her five times a day. She's my biggest supporter and gives me confidence in myself. I love her to bits. 

When I got sick I was so worried that Pia wouldn't have that relationship with me. I was so grateful to get better so that we could have that bond.

I used to be very scared of my cancer coming back and before I got help with those emotions I was so scared of the future. But now I try very hard to focus on the present moment and not to overthink everything.

If I took a different fork in the road I hope I would be helping people. I definitely had days when I sat at my desk in radio and wished I had become a nurse or a teacher. Hopefully, if I had gone a different route I would still be trying to make a difference in some way.

• Georgie Crawford is helping Three Ireland introduce a new connected lifestyle experience that will offer a dynamic and individualised shopping experience in its 60 stores nationwide.