‘Sarah Ferguson pushed me to have mammogram which found aggressive cancer,’ says TV star

Daphne Barak has revealed that Sarah, the Duchess of York, was the driving force behind her attending a mammogram appointment – which she says saved her life

Daphne Barak credits Sarah, the Duchess of York, for saving her life (
Image: @daphnebarak/Instagram)

Sarah, the Duchess of York, has been praised for “saving a TV presenters life.”

Broadcaster Daphne Barak has revealed that Sarah, 65, who has spoken openly about her own diagnosis of breast cancer, encouraged her to attend a mammogram after discovering her mum had died from breast cancer. Two years ago, the Duchess, was given her own diagnosis after attending a mammogram, she also tried to brush off.

At the time of the diagnosis, a spokesperson for the royal said her experience “underlines the importance of regular screening.” Sarah, who is the ex-wife of Prince Andrew underwent an operation following her diagnosis and later had a single mastectomy. Her sister, Jane, had encouraged Sarah to attend her appointment, despite the royal saying she didn’t feel like travelling from her home in Windsor to London due to it being a hot day.

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Daphne says that despite having a family history of cancer, she was in complete denial that it would ever affect her. Over the course of her career, she has raised money for causes such as the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as well as a fundraiser for the CLIC Sargent, childhood cancer specialists. “Sarah kept on at me until I finally got checked – and her fears were confirmed: I had an early-stage tumour around the size of a thumb nail in my breast,” she said.

Sarah encouraged Daphne to attend a mammogram which revealed she had breast cancer

She went on to write for the Daily Mail: “The fact it was still so small was, of course, down to Sarah’s persistence.” After her diagnosis, Daphne had a “small operation” which had a short recovery period. However, her ordeal was far from over. Daphne underwent a short intense course of radiation treatment to beat her cancer.

When she arrived home and was flooded with gifts and well wishes, it was then that her diagnosis properly hit her. Despite initially believing her battle against the cruel disease was over after her treatment, she received a call while on holiday in Italy, which knocked her for six. Her oncologist, Professor Becky Shatzky informed her that due to how aggressive her cancer was, there was a 47 percent chance it would return unless she had chemotherapy.

During her treatment, the broadcaster was staying at a hospital next to her hotel as her cold cap needed to be changed every 25 minutes. The cold cap is used to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy treatment. Throughout the duration of her chemotherapy, Daphne explained she suffered from vomiting on a regular basis, aching all over her body, feeling nauseous and unable to eat.

“It was a tearful, traumatic process,” she added. Cancer Research UK states that symptoms of breast cancer include a new lump or thickening in the breast or armpit, a change in the size, shape or feel of the breast, skin changes including puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness, fluid leaking from the nipple and a change in the position of the nipple.

The organisation adds that there are several ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer including a health weight, healthy diet, consuming low amounts of alcohol, breast feeding, being active, having children or medicines including aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs.