Overview
- Sawalha confirmed on December 28 via Instagram that Gardner died at 39 after metastatic breast cancer, sharing a heartfelt tribute.
- She thanked staff at The Princess Alice Hospice in Esher for what she described as extraordinary care for Gardner and her loved ones.
- Gardner’s illness began with a 2013 breast cancer diagnosis, recurred in 2017 and 2020, and progressed to stage‑four disease with liver metastases in 2022.
- In 2024, Gardner appeared on ITV’s Loose Women to urge NHS access to a treatment she said might have offered roughly six additional months with her daughter.
- NICE had refused the drug for use in England on cost grounds, a decision friends said deprived her of potentially meaningful extra time, as tributes poured in from family and colleagues including Mark Adderley.