22 January 2024 , 19:55
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The Duchess of York will bravely use her skin cancer diagnosis to drive an awareness campaign on the importance of checking potentially harmful moles.
Sarah Ferguson said she would turn her “distress into a positive” after doctors told her she was suffering from malignant melanoma, which is the most serious form of skin cancer. The Duchess revealed to friends she will use her time and profile to spur others to get checked, in honour of pal Carolyn Cotterell, who died from the disease.
Fergie lived with Carolyn before her marriage to Prince Andrew in 1986. She died from skin cancer in 1999. A close friend said of her campaign plan: “Sarah is a trooper. Typically, it was the first thing she did, thinking of others while she was recuperating herself. She wants to be a driving force. Sarah realises she has a big role to play on top of her public platform and she will put it to good use.”
Sarah was diagnosed with the serious form of skin cancer (PA)A source close to the duchess said she would use her links with the Teenage Cancer Trust, of which she is a patron. She could also join forces with eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, patron of the British Skin Foundation. Her father, Major Ronald Ferguson, had skin cancer when he died in 2003. Fergie yesterday shared a photo of herself thought to have been taken near a clinic in Austria where she has had treatment for the melanoma.
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Cancer Research UK says the disease kills around 2,300 in the UK annually. The Duchess added: “I have been taking some time to myself as I have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, my second cancer diagnosis within a year.” She mentioned her breast cancer this summer followed by a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, adding: “It was thanks to the great vigilance of my dermatologist that the melanoma was detected. Naturally another cancer diagnosis has been a shock but I’m in good spirits.”
She added: “My experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles.” Her diagnosis was before Christmas but was not announced until Sunday. It was just days after the Princess of Wales was hospitalised for abdominal surgery and as the King prepares for a prostate procedure. Fergie, 64, is now at home with ex Prince Andrew, 63, in the Royal Lodge, Windsor.