NHS apologise after devastated mum got breast cancer 'whilst on waiting list for 18 months'
Share:
A a 31 year old mum-of-two, has been diagnosed with breast cancer following an agonising 18-month wait for preventative surgery. After discovering she carried the BRCA2 gene in 2018—a mutation known to increase breast cancer risk—Sharni Marks was placed under the care of surgeons at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Mids.
She was assured that a double mastectomy would significantly lower her chances of developing the disease and was added to the waiting list in August 2022 without a specified surgery date. Despite being repeatedly informed she was a priority for the operation, it wasn't until March 2024 that Sharni finally received the procedure, along with reconstructive surgery.
READ MORE: Foster mum crushed boy, 10, to death sitting on him after he threatened to call police to report child abuse. However, a subsequent post-op check revealed a mass in the removed left breast tissue, leading to a grade-three breast cancer diagnosis, a type more prevalent among those with BRCA mutations. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has since issued an apology for the delay.
Amidst chemotherapy treatment, Sharni reflected on her ordeal: "When I was told I was at high risk of getting breast cancer, I thought being under the care of breast surgeons would be the best thing for me. After starting our family, I was added onto the waiting list for surgery. Months went by and I was still on the waiting list.
"It got to the point where I would call often to seek an update. It felt like it got to the stage where I knew what I was going to be told each time before I called. To finally undergo a double preventative mastectomy was a relief to start with. But that turned to devastation when I was told I’d developed cancer.
