A newsreader has revealed she found out she had cancer when a concerned viewer sent her an email pointing out a lump on her neck.
Victoria Price, a newsreader for WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, said her ‘own heath was the farthest thing from my mind’ as she reported on the coronavirus pandemic.
She said she ‘couldn’t be more grateful’ for the viewer who ‘went out of her way’ to email her during an emotional Twitter post on Friday.
‘A bit of ~personal news~ to share. Turns out, I have cancer. And I owe it to one of our wonderful @WFLA viewers for bringing it to my attention. I’ll be off work for a bit after tomorrow, but I’ll see y’all soon,’ she wrote.
Victoria Price, a newsreader for WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, said her ‘own heath was the farthest thing from my mind’ as she reported on the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured pointing out the cancerous lump on her neck
She said she ‘couldn’t be more grateful’ for the viewer who ‘went out of her way’ to email (pictured) her during an emotional Twitter post on Friday
Alongside the post she included a selfie where she pointed out the slight lump on her throat that had been spotted by the eagle-eyed viewer.
In a statement she added: ‘”8 On Your Side” isn’t just a catchphrase at WFLA. It’s our cornerstone. But the roles reversed when I found a viewer on MY side, and I couldn’t be more grateful.’
Ms Price had recently been promoted to investigative reporter and was working ‘never-ended shifts in a never-ending news cycle’.
‘As a journalist, it’s been full throttle since the pandemic began. Adjusting to remote workflows and in my case, taking on a new investigative role.
‘We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind.
Alongside the post she included a selfie where she pointed out the slight lump on her throat that had been spotted by the eagle-eyed viewer
‘Until a viewer emailed me last month. She saw a lump on my neck. Said it reminded her of her own. Hers was cancer. Turns out, mine is too.’
She said there had been a delay in her diagnosis because of COVID but she was booked in for a surgery to remove the tumor, her thyroid and a couple of nearby lymph nodes on Monday.
She added: ‘Doctor says it’s spreading, but not too much, and we’re hopeful this will be my first and last procedure.
As comments rolled in wishing the journalist luck with her recovery, one said he couldn’t see any lump. She replied with a screenshot of herself newsreading (pictured) to better show her protruding thyroid
‘Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It’s a scary and humbling thought.’
She said she would ‘forever be thankful’ for her viewer’s email, adding: ‘I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger.
‘She had zero obligation to, but she did it anyway. Talk about being on your side, huh?
‘The world is a tough place these days. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Love y’all and see you soon. VP.’
As comments rolled in wishing the journalist luck with her recovery, one said he couldn’t see any lump.
She replied with a screenshot of herself newsreading to better show her protruding thyroid.
Ms Price said she had recently been promoted to investigative reporter and was working ‘never-ended shifts in a never-ending news cycle’
It comes after Network Ten reporter Antoinette Lattouf (pictured on TV with the lump on her neck) was shown a message from a viewer to her editor in November
She wrote: ‘Not the easiest to see. It’s not super obvious unless you know what to look for.
‘This screenshot shows it a bit better. I’m still learning but doc explained that the tumor is in the middle of my thyroid, pushing the glands up and out, hence the subtle protrusion.’
It’s not the first time a thyroid problem has been spotted after a sufferer made an appearance on television.
Network Ten reporter Antoinette Lattouf received a letter from grandmother Wendy McCoy last November saying she had spotted a lump protruding from her neck.
Lattouf, who was previously unaware of the lump, decided to get it checked and discovered she had a potentially deadly cyst on her throat.
The married mother-of-two has since had a painful surgery to remove the cyst and is now having to carefully manage a life-long autoimmune disease as she recovers.