Katie Couric posted a loving tribute to her husband, who died of colon cancer, in a bid to raise awareness for her Stand Up to Cancer initiative.
The 60-year-old journalist and former co-host to the disgraced Matt Lauer took to her social media to speak on her own experience losing a loved one to cancer.
‘You probably know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, if you haven’t had to contend with it yourself,’ she said on Friday in an Instagram post.
Katie Couric posted a loving tribute to her husband, who died of colon cancer, in a bid to raise awareness for her Stand Up to Cancer initiative
‘You probably know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, if you haven’t had to contend with it yourself,’ she said on Friday in an Instagram post
‘As many of you know, in 1998, I lost my husband, Jay, to colon cancer. Three years later, I lost my sister, Emily, to pancreatic cancer. I felt so powerless as I watched this disease take the lives of two people who meant the world to me.’
Couric then details why she worked to create the initiative as a means to ‘spare other families the terrible heartbreak’ her family was exposed to.
‘I realized that new treatments had to be developed more quickly for the patients who needed them,’ added the mother-of-two.
Couric’s husband, Jay Monahan, died in 1998 to colon cancer and her sister died three years laterto pancreatic cancer
The couple were married in 1989 and had daughters Elinor and Carrie. Couric remarried in 2014
‘With guidance from the smartest scientists and the support of the entire entertainment community, nine of us started @su2c to help do that.
‘Nine years later, our researchers, doctors, patients and donors are rewriting what is possible by collaborating on cutting-edge treatments that are literally saving lives.’
Also included in the post were people who had already won their battles against cancer.
They included Jacob Teel (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), Trina Taylor (colon cancer), David Gobin (lunc cancer) and Karen Taphorn (melanoma).
Also included in the post were people who had already won their battles against cancer. They included Jacob Teel (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), Trina Taylor (colon cancer)
David Gobin (lunc cancer) and Karen Taphorn (melanoma) were also included in the post that has been liked almost 10k times
Couric then shared that 50 per cent of men get a form of cancer and that 33 per cent of women had some form of the disease as well.
She said: ‘We are all about the science. 100% of every donation received by SU2C directly funds lifesaving research.
‘This holiday season, please click the link in the bio to donate if you can. Thank you so much for your support.’
The post has almost 10k likes on the social media platform.
John Paul ‘Jay’ Monahan was a lawyer and NBC News legal analyst when he died in 1998.
The couple had daughters Elinor and Carrie.
SU2C is a goal to ‘end cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death by raising funds to accelerate research that will help more people diagnosed with cancer become long-term survivors,’ according to their website.
Couric then shared that 50 per cent of men get a form of cancer and that 33 per cent of women had some form of the disease as well