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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Brogan-Leigh Hurst

Cheryl pays emotional tribute to Sarah Harding on what would have been 40th birthday

Cheryl is cherishing her old memories with late Girls Aloud member Sarah Harding as she celebrates the day that would have been her milestone 40th birthday.

Sarah tragically died at the age of 39 in September, following a short battle with breast cancer.

Her former bandmates were left heartbroken and rallied around each other for support.

Today, it would have been the singer's 40th - and Cheryl posted an emotional tribute to mark the special moment.

Taking to Instagram, she shared a tear-jerking one and a half minute long video bursting with past memories of herself and Sarah - from their time in the girlband, to performing on stage and doing TV interviews.

Sarah Harding would have been celebrating her 40th birthday today (INSTAGRAM)

She captioned the video montage: "Memories may be all we’re left with, but they’re enough to last a lifetime."

Maroon 5's Memories played in the background while footage of Sarah living her best life was shown, with Cheryl describing her as "the crazy one" of the group.

The comments section was flooded with sweet messages wishing Sarah a happy birthday.

Girls Aloud accept an award (INSTAGRAM)

The talented Girls Aloud singer slipped away just weeks after revealing her breast cancer was terminal and telling fans that Christmas 2020 was likely to have been her last.

Her mum broke the news on Instagram.

She wrote: “It’s with deep heartbreak that today I’m sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away. Many of you will know of Sarah’s battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day.

"She slipped away peacefully this morning. I’d like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year. It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved. I know she won’t want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease – she was a bright shining star and I hope that’s how she can be remembered instead.”

Cheryl and Sarah share a sweet moment on stage (INSTAGRAM)

Brave Sarah had undergone gruelling treatment to beat the cancer, including a mastectomy and intensive chemotherapy since first being diagnosed in summer 2020.

But in March this year she revealed the devastating news that the cancer had spread to her spine and she knew she was dying.

Sarah was considering treatment options for a secondary tumour at the base of her spine, which had possibly grown into her brain, but had ruled out radiotherapy because she didn't want to lose her hair.

Sarah Harding died at the age of 39 (INSTAGRAM)

Having already faced the trauma of losing her breast and being too ill to have a reconstruction - which had left her unable to look in the mirror - Sarah wanted to keep her blonde hair.

In her book Hear Me Out, Sarah wrote: "In December my doctor told me that the upcoming Christmas would probably be my last."

She added: "I'm at a stage now where I don't know how many months I have left.

She was labelled 'the crazy one' (INSTAGRAM)

"I don't want to feel like I have to spend whatever time I have left hiding away."

Sarah had first found fame with Girls Aloud, who were put together on reality TV show Popstars in 2002.

The band - Sarah, Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts - had enormous success with 20 top 10 singles and built a fortune of £30million through their record sales and tours.

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