After meeting while on a trek raising money for breast cancer, Nadia Sawalha and Hannah Gardner immediately clicked. With a shared fear of heights, the pair helped each other venture across the Himalayas and have been close ever since, even forming the ‘Fab Four’ with two other pals.
“We just connected on a cellular level. She's very beautiful and vulnerable, but incredibly strong and powerful, smart and bright. I think I felt a really strong maternal instinct with Hannah right from the first day I met her,” Nadia, 59, tells OK!.
“I couldn’t have got round the Himalayas without Hannah because she was the only person who was as scared as me. She's just a really special, beautiful soul.”
However, the pair’s friendship has taken on a whole new meaning. After Hannah, 37, was given a primary breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, the cancer returned in 2017 and in 2020. Sadly, in June 2022 she received the devastating news that she had incurable cancer. Now she and Nadia, as well as their Fab Four friends, are campaigning together to secure the life-extending drug, Enhertu, that Hannah needs.
“The Fab Four girls are like the aunties and big sisters that I never knew I needed,” Hannah says. “They're not just behind me, but they’re alongside me and are leading the charge with it all. It's just completely natural, no questions asked. To know that I've got that kind of backing and support is really quite something.”
For some women with incurable HER2-low secondary breast cancer, Enhertu is a life-extending drug. While it is approved for use in Scotland, it has been rejected for use on the NHS in England. According to charity Breast Cancer Now, this means that thousands of women are being denied access to something that could give them more time.
“Enhertu rolls off the tongue like the name of our own child. A year ago, I had never heard of this game changing, extraordinary drug. It’s become such a huge part of all of our lives now, not only for Hannah, but the 1,000 women who would be eligible,” explains Nadia.
“It is so brutal. It is so cruel when you know if she got on a four hour train journey she could have it.”
At present, Hannah, who is mum to three year old Lilah, has been granted Enhertu as part of a trial. “Hannah is the first to say she's extremely lucky to be on this trial, but why should she have to be lucky when this is a game changing drug?,” the Loose Women star questions.
“Hannah's Easter wasn't spent with her three year old. Hannah's Easter was spent having to have all these extra tests to be able to have the trial. It's grossly unfair, it really is.”
Despite all that she’s going through, Hannah has spoken bravely about her experience on shows including Loose Women and Lorraine as she fights to raise awareness of the treatment. She’s also set to join Nadia in Parliament later this month when they take part in a round table with key players including NHS England and NICE.
“She’s amazing. She went on Loose Women and Lorraine with all that's going on in her life and spoke with such eloquence. Not just for herself, but for the women that could need this in the future,” Nadia says. “I am just eternally grateful to Loose Women and the Lorraine show for allowing us.”
But while Hannah and Nadia continue with their fight, Nadia stresses that we can all do something to help create change. As the saying goes, you are never too small to make a difference.
“Every single person has a part to play in this because the pressure could lead to change. Whether you're signing a petition or writing an article like this, whatever you're doing, you could play a part in saving people's lives,” she states.
“It could be any one of us. It could be your mother. It could be your daughter. It could be your grandmother that needs it next. When women pull together, there is nothing more powerful.”
Sign Breast Cancer Now’s #EnhertuEmergency petition now at breastcancernow.org
