Pinpointing pain: Is it cancer or cancer treatment?
Girls Aloud Star Sarah Harding Dies Aged 39
Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding, 39, who had breast cancer, died on Sunday morning, her mother has said.
Harding revealed in August 2020 that she had been diagnosed with the disease, which had spread to other parts of her body.
Her mother Marie announced the news on Instagram, describing her "beautiful" daughter as "a bright, shining star".
Earlier this year Harding revealed doctors had told her she would not see another Christmas.
Her Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle led the tributes on social media.
Roberts, who shared photos of them together, posted: "I can't accept that this day has come. My heart is aching and all day everything we went through together has raced round my mind... A part of me or us isn't here anymore and it's unthinkable and painful and utterly cruel."
She added: "Electric girl, you made us. You gave it everything and still with a smile."
Coyle wrote on Instagram: "I am absolutely devastated. I can't think of words that could possibly express how I feel about this girl and what she means to me."
In a post next to a black and white image of Harding, her mother wrote: "It's with deep heartbreak that today I'm sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away.
"Many of you will know of Sarah's battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day. She slipped away peacefully this morning.
"I'd like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year.
"It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved.
"I know she won't want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease - she was a bright, shining star and I hope that's how she can be remembered instead."
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In March this year, in an extract from her memoir published in the Times, Harding wrote: "In December my doctor told me that the upcoming Christmas would probably be my last."
She said she didn't want an exact prognosis, just "comfort" and to be "pain-free".
Harding also wrote in her autobiography, Hear Me Out, about how she initially put off getting medical advice when she first found lumps under her arm in December 2019.
She eventually saw a doctor who advised her to schedule an MRI scan - but then "coronavirus hit and everything either went into slow motion or stopped altogether", she wrote.
"I was aware that I needed to get this health issue sorted, but with everything that was going on, it was tough."
She said the pain continued getting worse. "One day I woke up realising that I'd been in denial about the whole thing. 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."
Harding shot to fame in 2002 as a contestant on Popstars: The Rivals - an ITV talent show which aimed to find both a new girl band and boy band.
She made it to the final and gained the final spot in the group which became Girls Aloud - despite being the underdog according to bookmakers - alongside Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Cheryl Cole (then Tweedy).
"She was the girl next door who had it all": Record producer Pete Waterman pays tribute
TV and music stars have been among those to pay tribute to Harding, who was born in Ascot, Berkshire, on 17 November 1981, and later moved to Stockport, Manchester.
Former Spice Girl Geri Horner - a judge on Popstars: The Rivals - tweeted: "Rest in peace, Sarah Harding. You'll be remembered for the light and joy you brought to the world."
Fellow judge Louis Walsh, who helped create the group, said he would remember her with "great fondness". He added: "She was always fun and the life and soul of the party. Anytime she came to Dublin in the early days, we went out to the Pod nightclub and would be the last to leave."
Another member of the ITV talent show's cast, TV presenter Davina McCall, wrote it was "so, so sad" to hear the news. "A star from the get go, hugely fun and outgoing yet also somehow fragile... Love to her family and friends."
Former boyfriend Calum Best, a reality TV star, spoke of the "crazy fun times and adventures" they had together, saying she would be "so very missed".
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JLS singer Oritse Williams, whose band emerged four years after Girls Aloud, said it was "heartbreaking" to hear that she had died, tweeting: "The times we met she was always so bubbly, such a big beautiful personality."
"Dainty blonde I ain't," wrote Sarah Harding in Girls Aloud's official book, Dreams That Glitter, in 2009. "I've got a t-shirt that says 'Well-behaved women don't make history'. Funny how the stylist gave that to me..."
Harding was the band's rock and roll star, smashing up a phone box in the video for No Good Advice and recording some of their most outrageous ad-libs. Just listen to the gleeful menace with which she delivers the line, "[you] make me wanna break the rules" over the shredding guitar riffs of Wake Me Up.
She was the last contestant on Popstars: The Rivals to be selected for the band, but she was also their biggest cheerleader. When they finally won a Brit Award, seven years into a career that changed the face of British pop, it was Harding who grabbed the trophy, hoisted it into the air and shouted, "It's about time!"
But although she was portrayed in the press as the band's party girl, she had a quiet side. The Girls Aloud song Live In The Country was inspired by her decision to quit London and live on a farm (although the insistent drum and bass beat suggested she'd never be too far away). And the line, "Here I am, walking Primrose," from the Brit Award-winning The Promise was a tribute to the singer's beloved pet bulldogs.
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When Girls Aloud went their separate ways in 2013, Harding pursued a career on the screen, appearing in independent films, soap operas and reality TV shows; while recording new music in fits and starts.
The devastating news of her cancer diagnosis last year was followed, this March, by an autobiography in which she revealed that Christmas 2020 was "probably my last".
"I'm trying to live and enjoy every second of my life, however long it might be," she wrote. "I am having a glass of wine or two during all this, because it helps me relax."
In the end, she died peacefully at home - but she will always be remembered as the vital life force of one of British pop's defining bands.
Girls Aloud are Britain's biggest-selling girl group of the 21st Century, selling 4.3 million singles and four million albums. They scored 21 UK top 10 singles between 2002-2012, including four number ones.
The group went on to have several UK hits, including Sound of the Underground, The Promise, Love Machine, Jump and Call The Shots.
Harding won a Brit Award with Girls Aloud for best single for The Promise in 2009
Girls Aloud reunited in 2012 after a short hiatus, to release and tour a greatest hits album. They announced their split in 2013.
Harding then took on several acting roles, including appearances in Run for Your Wife, and St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.
She appeared on the Channel 4 reality show The Jump in 2016, but was forced to pull out after suffering a knee injury.
In 2017, she won Celebrity Big Brother.
How can you spot breast cancer?
The most common sign of breast cancer is a lump or thickening in the breast - but there are other symptoms too.
These symptoms can be caused by other conditions, so it is important to get any lumps or changes checked by a doctor.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with women over 50 more at risk than the under-40s.
But there are many other factors that can increase a person's risk, including a family history of cancer and being overweight.
Many treatments are available for breast cancer and survival is generally good if the disease is detected early.
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding's life and career
In pictures: Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding: 'I won't see another Christmas'
Sarah Harding: Girls Aloud Star Says She Has Advanced-stage Breast Cancer
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has revealed that she has advanced-stage breast cancer.
The 38-year-old took to Twitter in an emotional statement to share her news with fans.
The message, shared alongside a picture of herself in hospital, said: "Hi everyone, I hope you are all keeping safe and well during these uncertain times.
"I've not posted on here for so long, thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in on me, it really does mean a lot.
"I feel now is the right time to share what's been going on.
"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 understand this might be shocking to read on social media and that really isn't my intention.
"But last week it was mentioned online that I had been seen in hospital, so I feel now is the time to let people know what's going on and this is the best way I can think of to do so.
"My amazing mum, family and close friends are helping me through this, and I want to say a thank you to the wonderful NHS doctors and nurses who have been and continue to be heroes.
"I am doing my very best to keep positive and will keep you updated here with how I'm getting on.
"In the meantime I hope you'll all understand and respect my request for privacy during this difficult time. Sending you all so much love….Xx."
Prior to the announcement, Sarah hadn't been active on her social media for a long time before sharing the news.
Picture: @SarahNHarding/Twitter
According to national reports, Sarah was last seen in public at the National Film Awards in London back in March 2018.
Sarah's official website has also been taken offline.
Sarah become a household name as one fifth of Girls Aloud when they were formed on ITV show Popstars: The Rivals, back in 2002.
The group racked up several top ten singles and albums before they split in 2009.
Sarah Harding Prompted Aberdeen Woman To Seek Cancer Help
A Scots woman say a tweet by Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding revealing she had breast cancer prompted her to seek help and may have saved her life.
The singer died on Sunday aged just 39, fifteen months after being diagnosed with the disease.
Kimberley Forsyth had just turned 38 on August 25 last year and was anxious after finding a lump in her breast when she noticed Sarah's post at the top of her Twitter feed.
She recalls"feeling sick" as she read how the singer had delayed seeking help and called her GP a few days later. Within a few weeks she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.
The 39-year-old, who lives in Aberdeen, is doing well - her cancer was contained and successfully removed - but it will be March before she finishes almost 18 months of gruelling treatment for the disease.
She says she wouldn't have coped with her diagnosis, in the social isolation of the pandemic, without the emotional and practical support of Macmillan nurses. The news of Sarah's death was hard to take, she says, given the personal link.
READ MORE: Asprin trialled as potential new treatment for breast cancer
The charity has warned that Scotland is facing a cancer nurse timebomb with hundreds of extra staff required to meet a projected 23% rise in cases by the end of the decade as new detections reach 46,000.
Macmillan say specialist cancer nurses are already stretched too thin and shortages are resulting in "serious consequences" for patients.
Polling by the charity found a quarter of those diagnosed with cancer in Scotland in the past five years lacked specialist cancer nursing support.
One in 10 experienced at least one serious medical implication as a result such as ending up in A&E or not knowing if they were taking their medication correctly.
Patients were more likely to have doubts about whether it was worth having their treatment, or even suicidal thoughts.
"It's no exaggeration to say that I couldn't have done it without them," said Ms Forsyth, who works for the city's health and social care partnership.
READ MORE: Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding dies of cancer at 39
"I knew the lump was there but hadn't done anything about it. Then the day after my birthday she (Sarah Harding) put out a tweet. When I saw that I just felt sick. I knew she was the same age as me."
She says she delayed telling her parents over that weekend because she didn't want to cast a shadow over their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations but called her GP soon after on August 31.
She was referred for a scan and was told by a consultant, with a Macmillan nurse present, that there was a likelihood it was cancer and her stage 3 diagnosis was confirmed on October 1.
Doctors initially thought it was triple negative breast cancer, which has a poorer prognosis that other forms of the disease but this was later ruled out.
However, she was told it was very aggressive and that chemotherapy would be required "immediately".
She had six rounds, followed by surgery to remove the tumour and then 15 successive days of radiotherapy.
She is now on a maintenance chemotherapy treatment, which will continue until March.
"The cancer is gone but it doesn't stop," said Ms Forsyth.
"I think because every knew Sarah's story had a hand in mind they were all getting in touch which is lovely but it's overwhelming."
READ MORE: Glasgow doctor's cry for help as Scotland dominates European Covid hotspot list
Ms Forsyth, who is divorced and one of eight in her family, is thankful she was able to undergo fertility treatment ahead of starting treatment. "I now have some eggs in the freezer for a rainy day," she said.
"If I hadn't called when I did, it was that aggressive. I'm just so fortunate that I was seen quickly.
The support of Macmillan nurses took on an greater significance at the height of the pandemic when patients were unable to take relatives or friends to appointments.
A new report by the charity estimates 348 additional cancer nurse specialists will be needed in Scotland by 2030 to ensure cancer patients get the care and support they need.
This is on top of potentially replacing 182 specialist cancer nurses - almost half of the workforce – that a Macmillan census in 2019 found were over 50 and could retire by 2030.
Head of Macmillan's services in Scotland, Janice Preston, said: "Scotland is facing a perfect storm of soaring numbers of people with cancer, many experienced nurses retiring, and an already over-stretched workforce who despite working extremely hard, just can't fill all the gaps.
"Cancer nurse specialists aren't luxuries. They're an essential part of the cancer care system and research shows they make a significant difference to how patients cope with the physical and emotional impact of their illness and treatment.
"It's vital that the Scottish Government commits to creating a fully-funded and clearly mapped out plan to recruit the hundreds of additional nurses Scotland needs, as well as to replace those who are retiring."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:"Staffing levels in Scotland's NHS have reached a new record high after an increase of over 5,000 whole time equivalent staff in the last year. NHS Scotland's workforce has now grown by over 20 per cent under this Government. This means an extra 25,000 staff working in our health service, achieved by nine consecutive years of staffing increases.
"Our National Cancer Plan is backed by £114.5 million of funding and is helping to ensure patients receive dedicated person-centred clinical support throughout their cancer journey. In addition, we are working in partnership with Macmillan to deliver the Transforming Cancer Care programme which will see all cancer patients receive emotional, financial and practical support from key support workers.
"Our NHS Recovery Plan commits more than £1 billion of targeted investment for the recovery and renewal of Scotland's health service, including an additional £20m to deliver our Detect Cancer Early Programme as well as an £11 million investment in new national and international recruitment campaigns to produce an additional 1,500 staff over the next five years."
For advice and support about cancer visit https://www.Macmillan.Org.Uk/
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