Good Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones has urged women not to "hesitate" to get their symptoms checked after Sarah Harding's tragic death from breast cancer.
Sarah tragically died on Sunday after battling cancer, which had spread throughout her body. She was just 39-years-old.
Before she died, the Girls Aloud star had shared that she had been reluctant to go to the doctor after discovering lumps under her arm because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Monday's episode of the ITV show, Dr Hilary urged anyone experiencing symptoms to get them looked at by a doctor as they will be taken seriously despite the pandemic.
Dr Hilary said: "Sarah was a wonderful, vivacious, happy, bubbly, cheeky girl and it's just a tragedy at the age of 39."
He said it's rare for women under the age of 40 to get breast cancer, with women of the age making up just 5% of cases, and even more rare in the twenties.
He went on: "What happens, when it is diagnosed in younger women it tends be in the later stage, it tends to be more aggressive and therefore more likely to reoccur and have a worse prognosis."
Dr Hilary then said that the NHS is prioritising cancer treatment and urged anyone with symptoms of cancer to see their doctor.
He continued: "The NHS prioritises cancer treatment so despite the pandemic, which did affect normal services at the beginning particularly, now cancer is being prioritised.
"We want to see people who have any suspicious symptoms, the NHS is open for business as usual, we have Covid-19 secure cancer hubs, we have treatments that make treatment quicker requiring fewer visits to hospital."
He went on: "We want to see people now if they're worried they have a symptom that might be suspicious. Get it checked out, please don't hesitate."
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of breast cancer are a lump in the breast, a change in the size or shape of one or both breast, a discharge of fluid from either of your nipples, a lump or swelling in either of your armpits, a change in the look or feel of your skin, such as puckering or dimpling, a rash or redness, a rash (like eczema ), crusting, scaly or itchy skin or redness on or around your nipple and a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast.
The news of Sarah's tragic death was shared on Instagram by her heartbroken mum Marie on Sunday.
Marie said: "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."
