A mother-of-one battling stage four blood cancer has shunned chemotherapy in favour of a controversial £12,000 course of ‘water-fasting’, after her cancer returned following 16 gruelling rounds of treatment.
Sarah Ford, 42, received the devastating diagnosis in February 2024, after suffering hay-fever like symptoms, breathlessness and hip pain whilst on her honeymoon in Turkey with her husband Sam Cullingworth.
The ex-bodybuilder was rushed to hospital where a CT scan revealed an 11cm long mass in the middle of her chest.
After flying back to the UK, she was admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, where she was finally diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma—an aggressive form of blood cancer that starts in white blood cells—after doctors found growths in her chest and right hip.
‘When they informed me of the mass, it just floored me being an active and healthy person,’ she recalled.
The newly married mother-of-one underwent four gruelling rounds of chemotherapy over the next two months which successfully shrunk the cancer.
But the following four rounds of stronger treatment, which doctors hoped would put her into remission, proved to be ineffective.
After a six week break, Ms Ford then underwent a further five round of chemotherapy paired with three round of immunotherapy—which uses the body’s immune system to attack the cancer—and on New Year’s Eve, she received the all clear.
‘It finally felt like we had been given a break from relentless chemo when I was told I was in remission,’ she recalled.
‘I was hoping to get back on the bodybuilding stage, get back to my job as a paramedic, and have another child.’
But just weeks after receiving the good news, Ms Ford’s cancer came back.
‘I had just had this huge high and was planning on slowly returning back to my life and I had to put it all on hold again,’ she said.
Despite Hodgkin’s lymphoma being one of the most easily treated types of cancer, she was told by her doctors that she was running out of treatment options.
She underwent a final five rounds of immunotherapy, but the treatment didn’t work. As a last ditch resort she was offered further chemotherapy.
Feeling hopeless after many failed rounds of gruelling treatment, the mother-of-one declined conventional treatment—opting instead for a 21-day water fast.
The medically supervised course will see her drink just 350ml of water a day, and consume no food.
She said: ‘I actually came across True North’s water fasting early on in my treatment.
‘Throughout I was constantly research how to help my body’s health in more organic ways.
‘I had fasted during my treatment of chemotherapy after reading up on how it can reduce the side effects.’
Within two weeks of contacting the clinic, Ms Ford started the medically supervised fast, on September 25.
‘It was a careful meticulous decision. I wanted to be absolutely safe and looked after whilst undergoing this, what seems a crazy undertaking.
‘It was of utmost importance that my husband, son, family and friends knew I was being looked after.’
Her husband Sam, 55, said: ‘Sarah’s decision to fast instead of having more chemotherapy, and not following the conventional route, was scary at first to take on board.
‘But now I am convinced she made the right decision.’
Heidi Smith at Blood Cancer UK, cautioned: ‘If someone is considering any alternative therapy, like water fasting, we would strongly encourage them to talk to their hospital team.
‘Our priority is to ensure that people with blood cancer have the best possible outcomes, and that means following treatment plans that are supported by strong clinical evidence.’
The medic treating Ms Ford claims his water-fasting works, but cites just a single case of a person suffering stage 1 lymphoma who went into remission after a water fast and changing their diet, published in the British Medical Journal.
Dr Alan Goldhamer, founder of True North Health Centre, added: ‘In appropriately selected patients—determined by medical history, physical exam and lab testing— medically supervised fasting can be safe.
‘When fasting the body eliminates the dietary excess and accumulated toxins that appear to prevent the body from healing itself.’
However cancer experts maintain that patients should seek medical advice before embarking on alternative therapies.
Ms Ford is still raising funds for her treatment via GoFundMe, which she hopes will see her return to a healthy, fit mother to her four-year-old son.
Symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma can vary widely, as not all patients will develop obvious swellings or growths.
Night sweats, unintentional weight loss, a high temperature, persistent cough and itchy skin are all other, lesser-known symptoms.
For some patients, the collection of abnormal cells happens in the abdomen, inside the body, leading to digestive symptoms like indigestion and abdominal pain.
Persistent tiredness and excessive bleeding can also be signs, as can pain in the lymph glands after drinking alcohol.
Around 2,100 people are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in the UK each year.
It is an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body that are responsible for getting rid of waste and fighting infections.
In Hodgkin lymphoma, the cells within this system develop abnormally and form swellings near the lymph glands, such as in the neck, armpit and groin.
The damaged cells also lose their infection-fighting properties, making patients more vulnerable to infection.
Hodgkin lymphoma can develop at any age, but it mostly affects men between 20 and 40 years of age and those over 75.
