Professional boxer Georgia O’Connor released a blistering Instagram post claiming ‘not one doctor f**king listened to me’ just months before she tragically died from cancer.
The 25-year-old’s passing was announced last Thursday (22 May), with her boxing promoter calling her a ‘true warrior’.
O’Connor, from Durham, UK, said back in January that health professionals ‘gaslit’ her before she was diagnosed, claiming they refused to perform scans while she was ‘crying on the floor in agony’ and told her it was ‘all in [her] head’.
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She said she knew ‘deep down something was seriously wrong’ and ‘said from the start I felt it was cancer’, adding that her previous diagnoses of ulcerative colitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) made her higher risk.
By the time her health issues were investigated, she claims she had blood clots all over her lungs, heartbreakingly adding: “They could have done something before it got to this stage. But they didn’t.”
A spokesperson from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where O’Connor was treated, offered their ‘sincere condolences’ and urged her family to get in touch if they ‘want to raise any concerns with us’.
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The boxer said it took 17 weeks before doctors diagnosed her with cancer, adding: “F**k the doctors who failed me. F**k the system that let this happen.”
Calling the NHS ‘broken’, she heartbreakingly said: “They can say it’s terminal all they want. They can tell me I’m going to die.
“But after taking 17, SEVENTEEN weeks to even figure out what was wrong with me, why the f**k should I believe them? I’m young, I’m fit and I am stronger than they’ll ever f**king understand.
“We’ve already got an amazing oncologist on my case and we’ve made sure I’m going to have the best treatment and healing possible. And when I beat this like I’ve beat everything that’s tried to end me before, they’re all going to get what’s f**king coming to them.”
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As a talented young boxer, O’Connor won medals at the World and European Youth Championships, and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2017.
Her death came just two weeks after she married her long-term boyfriend Adriano Cardinali, with the couple tying the knot on 9 May.
In a post in February celebrating his birthday, O’Connor wrote: “I never in my life thought I would find someone like you. Someone with such a pure heart and soul, someone who makes me feel loved every day, someone who would do absolutely anything for me…someone as weird as me."
In the statement announcing her passing, O’Connor’s promoter Boxxer said: “We are heartbroken by the passing of Georgia O’Connor.
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“A true warrior inside and outside the ring, the boxing community has lost a talented, courageous and determined young woman far too soon. Georgia was loved, respected and admired by her friends here at Boxxer. Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this difficult time.”
A spokesperson for the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust issued the following statement to LADbible Group: “We are very sorry to hear the news about Georgia’s death and offer our sincere condolences to the family.
“We appreciate this a very difficult time, but when and if the family want to raise any concerns with us, we’d urge them to get in touch.”
Georgia's post in full
There’s really no easy way to say this, but I have cancer.
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Now that’s out the way, it’s time to expose the absolute incompetent RATS that have allowed this to happen.
For 17 weeks since the start of October, I’ve been in constant pain, going back and forth between Durham and Newcastle RVI A&E knowing deep down something was seriously wrong. I said from the start I felt it was cancer. I KNEW the risks. I have colitis and PSC, two diseases that dramatically increase the chances of getting it. I KNOW how high my risk is and they do too. They always did.
But not one doctor f**king listened to me.
Not one doctor took me seriously. Not one doctor did the scans or blood tests I begged for whilst crying on the floor in agony.
Instead, they dismissed me. They gaslit me, told me it was nothing, made me feel like I was overreacting. They refused to scan me. They refused to investigate. They REFUSED to listen. One even told me that it’s “all in my head.”
And now? Now the cancer has spread. And if that wasn’t enough, throughout this whole time there’s been BLOOD CLOTS all over my lungs. That ALONE could have killed me instantly.
They could have done something before it got to this stage. But they didn’t. Because this is the state of the NHS - a broken system that fails young people like me over and over again. A system that makes people suffer, that sends them home in agony, that lets cancer spread whilst the thick, stupid, mindless “doctors” shrug their shoulders.
They can say it’s terminal all they want. They can tell me I’m going to die.
But after taking 17, SEVENTEEN weeks to even figure out what was wrong with me, why the f**k should I believe them?
I’m young, I’m fit and I am stronger than they’ll ever f**king understand. Mentally. Physically. Every single way. I’m still smiling and that smile will NEVER fade, no matter what.
We’ve already got an amazing oncologist on my case and we’ve made sure I’m going to have the best treatment and healing possible. Starting NOW.
F**k the doctors who failed me.
F**k the system that let this happen.
And when I beat this like I’ve beat everything that’s tried to end me before, they’re all going to get what’s f**king coming to them.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Simon Fearn