Sarah Harding's incredible legacy as thousands of lives to be saved in her name
Sarah Harding is set to save thousands of lives in a lasting legacy as ambitious new plans to detect breast cancer in younger women are revealed.
The doctor who treated the Girls Aloud star for the disease before she died in 2021, aged just 39, wants every woman in the UK to be invited for a risk screening when she turns 30.
If a study launched in Sarah’s memory is successful, says her oncologist Dr Sacha Howell, it could be rolled out nationwide. Pop-up clinics in handy spots such as supermarket car parks would offer women DNA testing and low-dose mammograms.
Unlike regular mammograms, which look for tumours, these examine breast density, believed to identify those at higher risk of breast cancer.
Dr Howell hopes to eventually invite all women aged 30 to 39 for screening.
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Girls Aloud singer Sarah in hospital (Copyright unknown)
Angelina Jolie announced in 2013 she’d had a double mastectomy (Getty Images)Breast cancer is the most common cause of death for women in their 30s, and more than 2,300 aged 39 or under are diagnosed each year.
However, mammograms are only routinely offered on the NHS to over 50s, while the current approach of looking at family history only helps predict one in three cases.
Dr Howell’s initial study – the first into young women’s risks – will recruit 1,000 subjects aged 30-39 for low-level mammograms and saliva DNA analysis. The NHS trial aims to establish whether the density of breast tissue plays a part in the risk of younger women getting the disease, as it does in older women.
This research was possible thanks to funding from the Christie Charity, Cancer Research UK and the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, supported by her family, friends and Girls Aloud bandmates Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts. Together, they raised more than £1.2million in her name.
Sarah with Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud in 2012 (Getty Images)Dr Howell, honorary consultant at Manchester’s The Christie NHS cancer hospital, said: “Sarah’s dream was that other women of her age did not go through the same horrendous experience she did. At the end of this study we hope to have a robust risk prediction system for young women to stop them dying from the disease.”
Next month marks two years since Sarah’s mum Marie announced her girl had “slipped away peacefully”.
During lockdown, the star found a lump but was reluctant to seek treatment. She was diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer in summer 2020. Despite a mastectomy and chemo, the cancer advanced.
In her powerful memoir, Hear Me Out, released in March 2021, Sarah laid bare her mission to help other women – no matter her own outcome.
Dr Sacha Howell is the oncologist who treated Sarah
Catherine Craven-Howe said she feels 'honoured' to be part of Sarah's legacyShe wrote: “I was adamant that I didn’t want the news about my diagnosis getting out. However, there was a little part of me that thought, maybe if I could bring myself to talk about it, it might help others who are going through something similar – people who had left a cancer diagnosis until it might be too late.
“Maybe if I spoke out, as a public figure, a celebrity, it could help get the message across how important it is to get checked out if you have concerns.”
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Referrals more than doubled after Angelina Jolie revealed in 2013 she’d had a double mastectomy on being told she had a 87% risk of breast cancer due to the BRCA1 gene. Now experts hope Sarah can have the same impact.
Philip Almond, of Cancer Research UK, said: “The BCAN-RAY project will fulfil Sarah’s dying wish to help women like her. One in seven women in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
“By harnessing the power of cutting-edge science, we can help more women live their lives free from the fear of breast cancer.”
Catherine Craven-Howe, 33, from Hale, Manchester, one of the first 60 recruits to the study held in collaboration with the Universities of Manchester, Cambridge and University College London, said: “I feel really honoured to be part of Sarah’s legacy.
“This could save the lives of so many women.”
'Her memory lives on'
One of Sarah’s closest friends last night hailed the important study, saying it means the star didn’t die in vain.
Make-up artist Liz Martins bonded with chatty Sarah – who she fondly nicknamed “Mad Head” – when she started working with Girls Aloud in 2004.
The singer was guest of honour at Liz’s wedding and the pair regularly hung out at Sarah’s Buckinghamshire home, enjoying roasts and movie nights watching the star’s favourite classics like The Goonies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Some Like It Hot.
Liz, 52, said: “It’s amazing to think how many lives Sarah has already saved through raising awareness, and how many thousands more she will continue to save.
Sarah having fun with best friend Liz Martins“It’s tragic and sad, but her memory lives on. She didn’t die in vain.”
As Sarah was diagnosed during lockdown, it meant Liz wasn’t able to visit her in Manchester. She said she found comfort remembering her pal in her prime – and revealed the other Girls Aloud members found it “incredibly difficult” to see the effect of the disease on their friend during their tearful final meeting at private member’s club and hotel Soho Farmhouse months before her death.
Liz – who has raised £10,000 by running the London Marathon for The Christie Charity – said: “I’m so glad I’ve got my memories of the vivacious, incredible, electric girl that she was.
Make-up artist Liz Martins bonded with chatty Sarah in 2004 (Phil Harris)“I know the girls. When they went off to Soho Farmhouse and had a weekend together, it was very hard on them. It was lovely that they all got to be together again, but it was incredibly difficult. Cancer ravages people.”
Liz told how Sarah’s “one big wish” was to host a gala dinner for cancer research – and the Primrose Ball was held last October. Liz added: “She made those girls promise to do that and they came through for her.
“If Sarah knew what she’d gone on to achieve she’d – for once – be speechless.”
Thanks to funding from the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal an innovative study has been made possible. With the support from Sarah’s Girls Aloud bandmates, family and friends, several fundraisers in support of this appeal have already taken place including a 5km Race for Life in London’s Hyde Park, the Primrose Ball as well as a Primark capsule range of nightwear in honour of Sarah. Cheryl said: “Before Sarah passed away we promised her we would fulfil her wish of raising money for vital research to help determine young women between the ages of 30 and 39 who could be at risk of breast cancer with no genetic history.”
To donate visit: https://www.christie.nhs.uk/the-christie-charity/donate/the-sarah-harding-breast-cancer-appeal
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