There was some sad news announced today as a young doctor who publicly wrote about her ongoing battle with breast cancer tragically died of the illness earlier this week.
The woman named Dr Sarah McAnallen aged 33 from Portadown, Co Armagh, sadly lost her battle the disease when she passed away on Sunday. Dr McAnallen was shockingly diagnosed with stage four cancer back in 2013, just six weeks after she graduated as a GP from the TCD Specialist Training Programme in General Practice. The sad news was confirmed by the Irish College of General Practitioners who issued a statement which described Sarah as “an āinspiringā young woman who showed leadership and a positive attitude to the challenges facing young GPs today.”
Dr McAnallen received great praise after she wrote about her battle with the illness in an article published on health website irishhealth.com two months ago. Dr McAnallen wrote: āI have learned of many young women in their twenties who are living with, and dying from, breast cancer.” Dr McAnallen further wrote: ‘In the theory of āsurvival of the fittestā, I always considered myself to be one of these so-called āfittestā people. There is sometimes no explanation, no answer to āwhy?ā, or at least, not yet one discovered. There is no justice in illness ā¦ Regular self-examination is the only way for people, young and old, to pick up change. Indeed, patients within the breast screening age group should know whatās normal for them and report change. Being breast aware saves lives.’
Meanwhile a fundraising page has been set up to honour McAnallenās memory and will raise money for the Friends of the Cancer Centre, a Northern Irish cancer charity.