Georgia O’Connor, the 25-year-old who was a professional boxer, tragically passed away last Thursday (22 May) from cancer. Her boxing promoter described her as a “true warrior.”
Although her passing itself is hurtful, given how young she was, the backstory is more haunting. Mere months before succumbing to the disease, she made a blistering post on Instagram detailing how the doctors initially “dismissed” her symptoms.
“Not one doctor f–king listened to me,” she said. She claimed that back in January before she was diagnosed, she was “gaslit” by health professionals. They tried to convince her that it was “all in [her] head,” even though she was “crying on the floor in agony.”
Connor, from Durham, UK, revealed that she was previously diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which posed a higher risk for a cancer diagnosis. She said, “From the start I felt it was cancer,” adding that she knew “deep down something was seriously wrong.”
She blames the health professionals she visited for how it turned out for her just at 25. “They could have done something before it got to this stage. But they didn’t,” O’Connor said, pointing out the doctors’ failure before the issue was investigated. By that time, she already had blood clots all over her lungs.
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On her Instagram post, she blasted, “F–k the doctors who failed me. F–k the system that let this happen.” The pro boxer added that it took the health professionals 17 weeks before they finally diagnosed her with cancer.
“But after taking SEVENTEEN weeks to even figure out what was wrong with me, why the f**k should I believe them? I’m young, I’m fit and I am stronger than they’ll ever f**king understand,” Georgia said. She also called the NHS “broken.”
RIP Georgia O’Connor 🩷🕊️
Our NHS system failed you. I hope there is a full investigation and that those involved are held to account.
Women’s pain is too often dismissed and reading your post after hearing about your passing is heartbreaking.
Rest easy champ 🩷 pic.twitter.com/BfTOrlZwFY
— Kaysha Thomas, MSc | Pilates + Nutrition (@KayshaThomas) May 22, 2025
“We’ve already got an amazing oncologist on my case and we’ve made sure I’m going to have the best treatment and healing possible. 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 f**king coming to them.”
In a more tragic turn of events, O’Connor passed away just two weeks after tying the knot with his long-term boyfriend, Adriano Cardinali.
She was a talented and young boxer with a bright future ahead. O’Connor won medals at the European and the World Youth Championships. In 2017, she also bagged a gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Her death marks the end of a rising star in the world of boxing. Her promoter wrote, “We are heartbroken by the passing of Georgia O’Connor. A true warrior inside and outside the ring, the boxing community has lost a talented, courageous and determined young woman far too soon. Georgia was loved, respected and admired by her friends here at Boxxer. Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this difficult time.”
O’Connor passed away just at the ripe age of 25.
O’Connor blamed the NHS for the delay in her cancer diagnosis.
