Michael Strahan’s Daughter Isabella, 19, Reveals She Has a Brain Tumor

Michael Strahan and his 19-year-old daughter Isabella are opening up for the first time about her brain tumor diagnosis.

The father and daughter appeared on “Good Morning America” with Robin Roberts, revealing that Isabella was a freshman at the University of Southern California when she underwent a brain scan in October and learned she had a medulloblastoma tumor.

While introducing the segment, Michael recalled Isabella complaining of headaches, but said he initially thought “she was enjoying college life” and “didn’t think much of it,” but “she kept getting worse and worse.”

As Michael and Isabella sat down with Robin for the interview, Michael said, “This is something that is so personal that I didn’t know if it would be something that she would want to share. But her idea was, ‘I want to share it and I want to help other people,’ and that goes into the spirit of who she’s always been.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Medulloblastoma is a cancerous brain tumor that starts in the lower back part of the brain. This part of the brain is called the cerebellum. It is involved in muscle coordination, balance, and movement.”

Isabella said at the moment she is “feeling good, not too bad.”

She said it was early October that she started experiencing “headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight.” Isabella initially thought it was vertigo. By the end of the month she was throwing up blood, and Michael said that’s when they knew she needed an extensive medical checkup.

She soon learned she had a 4-centimeter tumor, larger than a golf ball, in the back of her brain. According to “GMA,” medulloblastoma tumors account for 20 percent of childhood brain tumors and typically affect kids ages 5 to 9.

Isabella had emergency brain surgery the day before her 19th birthday, then rehabilitation, where she learned to walk again with the help of her twin sister Sophia.

From there it was six weeks of radiation, and the next step will be chemotherapy in February.

The model wants to share her story further with a new YouTube series in partnership with Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center.

The teen explained, “With my platform, I hope to just kind of be a voice and be a person who people who maybe are going through something similar, going through chemotherapy or radiation, can look at and just hear and just watch, or find something interesting about their day. I’m just excited for that.”

Michael added, “It is important to let people see there is hope.”

Isabella added that following the diagnosis, she has a new perspective. “I’m grateful just to walk or see friends or do something, because when you can’t do something, it really impacts you.”

As for her future, Isabella, getting emotional, said she is “looking forward to getting back to college and moving back to California.”

Afterward, she continued sharing her story with her first YouTube vlog. Watch!