‘I am still madly in love with this life, and just being alive feels really different for me now,’ the 51-year-old anchor says.
CNN anchor Sara Sidner revealed Monday she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and offered an emotional message to viewers, urging women to get their yearly mammograms.
“Just take a second to recall the names of eight women who you love and know in your life. Just count them on your fingers,” Sidner began. “Statistically, one of them will get or have breast cancer. I am that one of eight in my friend group.”
“I have never been sick a day of my life. I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. Breast cancer does not run in my family. And, yet, here I am, with stage 3 breast cancer. It is hard to say out loud,” she said.
Sidner shared that she is in her second month of chemo therapy and will undergo radiation and a double mastectomy.
And while she stressed that stage three breast cancer is no longer a “death sentence” for the vast majority of women, one statistic in particular she said she came across while researching the disease “shocked my system.”
“If you happen to be a Black woman, you are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than your White counterparts. 41%,” Sidner said. “So, to all my sisters, Black and White and Brown out there, please, for the love of God, get your mammograms every single year. Do your self exams. Try to catch it before I did.”
The 51-year-old anchor tearfully expressed how grateful she is to be alive and even “thanked” cancer for allowing her to appreciate the life she has.
“Now, here’s something I could never, ever have predicted would happen to me: I have thanked cancer for choosing me,” Sidner said. “I’m learning that no matter what hell we go through in life, I am still madly in love with this life. And just being alive feels really different for me now.”
She continued, “I am happier because I don’t stress about foolish little things that used to annoy me. And now, every single day that I breathe another breath, I can celebrate that I am still here with you. I am here with my co-anchors, my colleagues, my family and I can love and cry and laugh and hope and that, my dear friends, is enough.”
