Hannah Fry has described the "sheer terrifying drop of the end of (her) existence" she felt after being diagnosed with cervical cancer. The mathematician and broadcaster, 42, who appeared as a contestant on the second season of Celebrity Traitors, spoke about the health scare during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
Diagnosis and Biopsy
Cancerous cells were first discovered after Fry attended a cervical screening exam in 2020. "The results didn't come back for a few weeks, then I got a call from my GP telling me they needed me to come back and do another test and they did a biopsy," Fry told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne.
Fry was told that her chances of survival depended on whether the cells had spread to her lymph nodes. "I was trying hard not to panic but when they found it was in the lymphatic system… that was when it really started to come down," she said.
Survival Odds and Hospital Isolation
"It's all about basically how far into your lymphatic system has it got. If it had not got into any lymph nodes, then the odds were in my favour and I had a really good chance of survival," she explained. "But if it was in one it would drop to a 60% chance of survival and two – the odds would go against me and it would be a 40% chance of survival. Any more and you are really seriously in trouble."
While isolating in hospital after a hysterectomy, Fry's surgeon gave the worrying news that four of her lymph nodes appeared enlarged during the surgery. "I was in this hospital bed on my own and no-one could come and visit me for over a week, with nothing but the sheer terrifying drop of the end of my existence in front of me – it was horrific."
Fry recalled feeling too sad to call her family and friends during her hospitalisation, feeling that being seen at this time would be 'too much'. Her then-husband had set up a 'CCTV' FaceTime in the corner of a room so she could watch their two young daughters play.
A 'Gift' of an Experience
Holding back tears, Fry continued: "I think the problem is that when you are in that situation your mind doesn't really have anywhere to go. You can't think back to happy things that have already happened because it is sad, and you can't look forward to things you are hopeful about because it doesn't feel like it is there. And you can't be there in the moment because it is too painful – you have tubes everywhere and it's painful because you are stuck on a bed. It's awful."
However, Fry added how "lucky" she felt on the other side of the experience. "My goodness me, as awful as that was, it had a full stop at the end of the sentence," she said. "I managed to get through it. I had my five-year clear the other day. I feel so unbelievably lucky. Going through something like that I don't think I would swap it. I think it was honestly such a gift to have that experience when you're 36 and then come out the other side of it."
She added: "Every now and then I think about the lessons that I learnt. They are fading a little bit but I want to hold onto them for as long as I can."
Fry is the first Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. She was previously president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and was a professor of the mathematics of cities at University College London. She has also presented several television and radio programmes for the BBC, including The Secret Genius Of Modern Life, along with web shows such as The Rest is Science podcast.
