Model and actress Karrueche Tran revealed that Deion Sanders told her she was free to walk away from their relationship after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
Tran, 37, touched on the 58-year-old NFL Hall of Famer and Colorado Buffaloes head coach tabling that offer to her in a video he posted on Instagram, Complex reported.
“This man told me, ‘You don’t have to stay. You don’t have to deal with it,'” Tran recalled.
Sanders, in the Instagram video, also confirmed that he told Tran she could walk away after his diagnosis.
“You didn’t sign up for this,” Sanders said. “I would not be upset … if you checked out.”
Despite his cancer diagnosis at the time, Tran emphasized that she’s “not the type of person” to bail out in tough situations.
“If I [had] dipped, I would’ve taken the easy way out,” the 37-year-old stated. “It was hard, it was difficult mentally. … But we made it work.”
In July 2025, Sanders opened up about being diagnosed with bladder cancer and having to go under the knife to remove the tumorous organ, Face2Face Africa reported at the time.
READ ALSO: Deion Sanders responds to rumors about romantic relationship with actress Karrueche Tran
Per ESPN, Sanders disclosed that no traces of cancer had been found after he underwent the surgery to remove his bladder. Sanders was with Dr. Janet Kukreja, the director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, and Colorado team trainer, Lauren Askevold, when he addressed reporters in the Touchdown Club at the Dal Ward Center.
Sanders, who is also known as Coach Prime, disclosed that he lost around 25 pounds. Askevold said that the tumor was found in Sanders’ bladder when he underwent a usual routine vascular exam as a result of issues with blood clots in his legs.
Kukreja confirmed that Sanders had since been “cured of cancer,” and that is a “word” she didn’t use “lightly.” Kukreja said that a new bladder for Sanders was made with a portion of his small intestine.
“When I went through what I went through last year, with the cancer, it triggered something in me that said … ‘start living,'” Sanders said in the Instagram video, per Complex. “I gotta start enjoying life; that’s what God has whispered to me.”
Tran was with Sanders when he underwent the bladder surgery, and she was also with him when he went under the knife for the 16th time in October 2025 to fix blood clot issues in his left leg.
Besides being by his side during his health struggles, Tran explained why she believed her union with Sanders was by God’s doing.
“To help you live life and experience new things,” she said. “I love to travel and do different things.”
READ ALSO: Deion Sanders undergoes 16th surgery, returns to Colorado practice a day after
