Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, describes her mastectomy as a 'badge of office'
The Duchess of York has said she is "proud" of her mastectomy and described it as a "badge of office".
Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain (GMB), Sarah Ferguson described her fears around having surgery and spoke about "Derek" - her name for her reconstructed left breast.
Earlier this year the 64-year-old underwent an eight-hour single mastectomy operation and reconstruction after discovering she had an early form of breast cancer during a routine mammogram.
She previously said she had no symptoms and almost missed her appointment until her sister convinced her to go. Luckily the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes.
She told GMB hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid: "I'm sorry to be so quite bold, if I may say, but this is Derek. It could be Dereka and it could be they. I'm talking about my left breast.
"I'm really proud of it. I feel that my mastectomy is like a badge of office."
The Duchess of York described the moment she decided to have her breast removed as she drove away from the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, and began searching for information about the disease online.
"Of course you look it up and you go on medical (websites) and it tells you all these different things and eventually I was so silent and I went right into my fears," she said.
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Balls told the Duchess of York how her story encouraged his co-host Reid to have a mammogram.
He said: "Your courage to speak about it encouraged other people to think: 'Actually, if Sarah can do this so can I'."
