Sarah Ferguson is the latest royal making her debut on TikTok, and she has arrived on the social media platform with an emotional message about her cancer journey. The Duchess of York was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. However, later in 2024, she learned she has malignant melanoma, which is a form of skin cancer. Doctors discovered the cancerous mole during the reconstructive surgery for her breast cancer, reported People.
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The Duchess posted a one minute video.
“How it felt being diagnosed with #breastcancer. ❤️🩹,” she wrote over her video.
“My first ever TikTok! How it felt hearing my breast cancer diagnosis,” she wrote in her caption. “One cancer diagnosis was bad enough but to go through all those emotions twice was a lot to handle. For anyone going through this now, know that you are not alone. ❤️🩹 I am proud to share that I am officially a patron for #PreventBreastCancer, an incredible organisation that is dedicated to the prediction and prevention of #breastcancer,” she concluded. She added the hashtags #BreastCancerAwareness, #PinkOctober, #CancerTok, and #BreastCancerSurvivor.
Sarah described how she felt receiving the diagnosis.
“Hollow feeling of total, abject fear,” she said, describing her emotions when she got her first diagnosis. “The drive from Royal Free to Edward VII Hospital was 40 minutes, and I just didn’t speak. I couldn’t speak. It was very interesting for me not to speak. I couldn’t express myself. I just shut down, I went back into the little girl. It was easier not to ask for support and just to deal with it because that’s what I’m used to. That’s what I can do. That’s what I was told. And it’s only now I’m really proud of my scars.”
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She has learned to find joy through her journey.
“They’re really important,” the Duchess of York said of her scars. “I never thought that you could free the shackles of your heart by cancer, by learning what it is to be able to talk right now, right this second about how it feels to ask for help. To surrender and to realize that everything is going to be OK and you can find joy and you can not worry so much.”
People applauded her for her vulnerability.
“Be strong fergie ❤️🩹 wishing you good health and you are so strong for sharing your story to us all,” one person wrote.
“Welcome!!” another person said of her debut to the social media platform. “We’re grateful to have you hear and honored to hear your story. Wishing you good health and company. You’re incredibly strong, keep going.”
Sarah joined the charity Prevent Breast Cancer.
On October 9, Sarah announced that she joined the charity Prevent Breast Cancer as a patron. She wrote that she will be helping raise awareness about the importance of early cancer detection. “It is so difficult when you’re told that you have cancer, not to let your mind go to the darkest places. You can’t help thinking that it’s a death sentence, and the dread of what lies ahead and how you are going to share the news with your family can be overwhelming,” she said.
“One cancer diagnosis was bad enough but to go through all those emotions twice in such quick succession was a lot to handle, and while treatment has been successful and tests show there has been no spread or recurrence, I’m aware I’m not out of the woods and will have to have checks for the rest of my life.”
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