Beyond The Ropes: Georgia O’Connor

Beyond The Ropes: Georgia O’Connor

“There’s really no easy way to say this, but I have cancer.” The gut-wrenching words of Georgia O’Connor that would have shocked anyone who saw them over the weekend. Many hearts would have been broken further as her social media post expanded on her already heartbreaking words.

“For 17 weeks since the start of October, I’ve been in constant pain, going back and forth between Durham and Newcastle RVI A&E, knowing deep down something was seriously wrong. I said from the start I felt it was cancer. I KNEW the risks. I have colitis and PSC, two diseases that dramatically increase the chances of getting it. I KNOW how high my risk is, and they do too. They always did.

“But not one doctor fucking listened to me. Not one doctor took me seriously.
Not one doctor did the scans or blood tests I begged for whilst crying on the floor in agony.

“Instead, they dismissed me. They gaslit me, told me it was nothing, and made me feel like I was overreacting. They refused to scan me. They refused to investigate. They REFUSED to listen. One even told me that it’s “all in my head.

“And now? Now, the cancer has spread,” words that escalated an already beyond serious situation.

“And if that wasn’t enough, throughout this whole time there’s been BLOOD CLOTS all over my lungs. That ALONE could have killed me instantly.

“If they had listened to me in the fucking first place, they could have caught it earlier. They could have done something before it got to this stage. But they didn’t. Because this is the state of the NHS – a broken system that fails young people like me over and over again. A system that makes people suffer, that sends them home in agony, that lets cancer spread whilst the thick, stupid, mindless “doctors” shrug their shoulders.

“They can say it’s terminal all they want. They can tell me I’m going to die. But after taking 17, SEVENTEEN weeks to even figure out what was wrong with me, why the fuck should I believe them?

“I’m young, I’m fit and I am stronger than they’ll ever fucking understand. Mentally. Physically. Every single way. I’m still smiling and that smile will NEVER fade, no matter what.

“My beautiful boyfriend Adriano has been my absolute hero, not just being there for me every second of every day but quitting work and dedicating literally all of his time to finding the best possible treatments from all over the world that we’ve already jumped on. I have an amazing oncologist looking after my case. My parents and close friends have been behind me every step of the way. And together we are going to smash this.

“Fuck the doctors who failed me.
Fuck the system that let this happen.
And when I beat this like I’ve beat everything that’s tried to end me before, they’re all going to get what’s fucking coming to them.”

You can perfectly understand all the hard emotions in her words. All the expletives are more than justified. But they also show the other side of Georgia O’Connor. Once a fighter. Always a fighter. There is no quit in her. The biggest fight of her life will bring out the biggest fight of her young life.

I first interviewed Georgia in 2021. It was before her professional debut. The headline then was:

“I’ve been really ill and nearly died. So I thought you only get one life, I’ve realised what’s important and I want to be happy.“ In many ways, it said plenty. In truth, it said everything. She had survived a seismic scare battling Pulmonary Embolisms. Georgia has been battling many things since. But she has never stopped smiling in the face of extreme adversity.

The politics of her sport, which denied her many things in her boxing career, seem so insignificant now. A talented fighter who was only allowed three fights in her professional career. The last appearance was on that history-making all-female card at the sold-out O2 Arena in London. It would have seemed unbelievable if someone had said Georgia O’Connor would never fight again. She impressed against Joyce Van Ee. Her future looked bright.

But a much bigger fight awaits Georgia now. A fight that she is more than up for. “I’m going to smash it,” she told me over the weekend. I believe her.

Georgia O’Connor, who will turn 25 later this month, has been fighting her entire life. She won’t be stopping now. The toughest opponent to date. After the ‘Big C’ is defeated, it will leave her with a 4-0 record. The greatest victory of all. The only one that really matters.