Deion Sanders gave his girlfriend Karrueche Tran an “out” during one of the toughest moments in his life.

The NFL Hall of Famer was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer during a routine check-up last spring. Sanders shared a video of them together on Instagram, where he told her that she could leave him. "You didn’t sign up for this," Sanders recalled thinking. "I would not be upset … if you checked out."

Tran was shocked. She said, "This man told me, 'You don’t have to stay. You don’t have to deal with it.” She described her choice to stay as “not the type of person I am.”

"If I [had] dipped, I would’ve taken the easy way out," Tran said. "It was hard, it was difficult mentally. … But we made it work."

"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 clip. "I gotta start enjoying life; that’s what God has whispered to me."

Tran described why she thought God had brought her and Sanders together, beyond her ability to support him through health issues, but also to share life experiences with him. Tran said she loves to travel and is always ready to bring her beau along.

Sanders’ diagnosis has been public since his July 2025 bladder-cancer announcement and subsequent surgeries. Sanders and Tran say the cancer battle tested their relationship and the role of care during long medical recoveries. Tran stayed by Sanders’ side for the bladder surgery, as well as his 16th surgery for blood clots that came in the fall. Coach Prime underwent bladder reconstruction surgery in July under Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urologic oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Kurkreja later declared the former NFL cornerback "cured of cancer." Tran affirmed she stayed to support him through treatment and recovery.