‘I Was Scared…’- Martina Navratilova Openly Admitted Negligence Was the Root-Cause for Her Struggle With Cancer

Martina Navratilova is a world-renowned name associated with tennis. The tennis legend made a glorious career for herself and brought a good name to the sport as well. The player continues to be active through her social media and continues to stay connected with the sport.

However, her fans had gotten a scare at a time when she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She had opened up about her mistake regarding her yearly mammogram checkup.

Martina Navratilova fights against cancer

Navratilova had talked about it in an old interview with Larry King. She accepted her mistake for her slip up on the yearly mammogram checkup for four years. And, when she did, the doctor had diagnosed her with Ductal carcinoma in situ or commonly known as DCIS breast cancer.

The Czech player reported that her last mammogram was in 2005, and that four years had passed since then. She said, “I was still on the tour playing my last year and I thought I’ll get it later, then after I finished my career I had knee surgery. I’m like I’ll do it later… it just kept missing.”

A strong approach and message by Navratilova

Martina Navratilova got back into action when she realized what she had. She said, “I was scared when I first got into the news, but immediately I got into the solutions, and thought what do we need to do to get out of this?” The player was in a lot of shock because she had always kept a healthy lifestyle and, owing to her long career in sports, she had always stayed fit. So, when she was diagnosed with the cancer, she felt confused.

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The player had decided to keep it as a secret but she went public with in order to raise awareness among women about the importance of regular checkups. She said, “When I found out why I found out what I have and I was so lucky that we had found it early because of the mammogram that I really owed this to the women out there.”

A battle that was won

However, the player stayed resilient and continued to stay in the sports realm even during her diagnosis. She did some television commentary for the French Open. Along with that, she also headed for the Wimbledon Championships.

The 18-time grand slam winner stayed optimistic even at the time of distress. She said, “The bad news is it’s cancer – the good news is that it hasn’t spread.” The player fought the battle successfully and got better with time.

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The Czech player had also been a huge moral support for her arch rival, Chris Evert, who had also been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. Chrissie also fought her battle bravely and came out healthy.