When Harriet Trewhitt first noticed a painful ulcer on her tongue in December 2024, she chalked it up to the usual suspects—maybe she’d bitten her tongue during one of her epileptic seizures. But as the weeks dragged on and the pain worsened, the acting student from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. By February 2025, the ulcer was still there, stubborn as ever, prompting her to seek medical advice. Her GP sent her to a dentist, who, sensing the urgency, referred her straight to A&E. That’s when things took a dramatic turn.
According to BBC News, after a biopsy, Harriet was diagnosed with stage two squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue—a rare and daunting diagnosis for anyone, let alone a 21-year-old on the cusp of finishing drama school. “I was just 10 days away from finishing university, so I pleaded with them to wait before I had to start treatment,” Harriet recalled. The medical team, understanding the significance of her graduation, allowed her to finish her course at LMA Drama School, which she completed on May 22, 2025. But there was no time to lose. Just five days later, on May 27, she was wheeled into surgery at University College London Hospital.
That first operation lasted six hours and was nothing short of extraordinary. Surgeons removed half of Harriet’s tongue and set about reconstructing it using skin and blood vessels from her left arm. But there was an unexpected twist: the patch of skin they used included a small semicolon tattoo Harriet had inked on her forearm—a symbol she’d chosen for its message of hope, resilience, and mental health awareness. “I had a small semicolon tattoo. And when they took the skin, they also took that as well,” Harriet explained with a wry smile to BBC News. “It’s under my tongue but reachable. When I looked at it, I thought, ‘I’ve got a tattoo on my tongue, this is crazy, how is this possible?’”
For Harriet, humor became a lifeline. “I tried to stay very positive throughout the whole ordeal, because I felt that was the only way I could cope was making jokes,” she said. “That was the best way for me to cope with it all.” But not every moment was lighthearted. “I wasn’t laughing though when I saw the state of my arm from where they took it from,” she admitted. The surgery left a large scar running from her wrist to her elbow, a visible reminder of the ordeal.
Unfortunately, the initial reconstruction didn’t go as planned. Just two days after the operation, surgeons discovered that the blood vessels in the graft hadn’t connected properly. Harriet was rushed back into emergency surgery to fix the issue and repair some damaged lymph nodes near her collarbone. “It felt like one minute I’ve got an ulcer, the next I was having half my tongue removed,” she told Cancer Research UK. “It was so much to take in, and because of the reconstruction I had to relearn how to talk and swallow.”
The road to recovery was steep. For weeks, Harriet couldn’t eat or drink normally and had to rely on a feeding tube inserted through her nose. Communicating was a challenge—sometimes she had to type out what she wanted to say on her phone. Yet, her determination shone through. “I like to chatter, so it was really frustrating, but I was determined to talk and eat on my own again,” she reflected.
After the surgeries, Harriet faced another daunting hurdle: proton beam therapy at The Christie Hospital in Manchester. This advanced form of radiotherapy uses protons instead of X-rays, delivering targeted bursts of energy that destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. “It was an incredible treatment,” Harriet said. “I had a mask that was moulded around my face and my chest that I wore every time I went in and it got attached to a board and then this machine moved around me.” From July 7 to August 15, 2025, she underwent treatment five days a week, enduring painful side effects and bouts of sickness. Thankfully, she had the support of family, friends, and her licensed support dog, Flo, who kept her company and encouraged her to get outside between appointments.
Despite her ordeal, Harriet was determined to celebrate her graduation. She paused her treatment for a day to don her cap and gown, even though, as she put it, “If you looked at me I looked perfectly fine but inside I was in so much pain and I was so tired.” The fatigue and pain were invisible to others, but for Harriet, they were all too real. “You can’t see the pain, but I can remember the pain afterwards, because I could barely eat at that point, I was in so much pain.”
Now, as of December 2025, Harriet is back home and focusing on her recovery. The journey hasn’t been without its lingering effects: she still experiences significant tiredness and has a slight lisp, a reminder of how much her life has changed. “The hardest part for me has been adjusting to the impact it has had on my acting. I now have a bit of a lisp and swelling in my face and head, which has really knocked my self-esteem,” she shared with Cancer Research UK. Yet she remains undeterred, already planning to pursue a master’s degree in drama therapy at Derby University in 2026 while continuing to audition for theatre roles. In the meantime, she’s had her beloved semicolon tattoo redone on her other arm, feeling “a bit bare” without it.
Harriet’s story, as reported by BBC News and Cancer Research UK, is more than just a medical marvel—it’s a testament to resilience, humor, and the power of research. She urges others to be vigilant about persistent mouth ulcers and to push for biopsies if something doesn’t seem right. “If you have an ulcer lasting longer, go and get it checked because you don’t know what it could be and push to get a biopsy because you don’t want it to end up more serious,” she advised. And in a message of hope, she added: “It gets worse before it gets better, and you come out of it stronger than you ever thought you would.”
As she looks to the future, Harriet is determined to raise awareness about the breakthroughs in cancer treatment that gave her a second chance. “The statistics say it all. To save lives, Cancer Research UK needs our support now. Advances like this wouldn’t be possible without vital funds,” she emphasized. With her unique story—tattoo and all—Harriet is living proof that even the most unexpected journeys can lead to hope, healing, and, yes, a pretty good dating anecdote.
