CNN Anchor Sara Sidner Reveals Her First Breast Cancer Diagnosis On-Air

Sara Sidner, 51, took some time out of her CNN broadcast to share some news about herself.

The anchor revealed on-air that she is battling breast cancer.

Sidner started by asking viewers to “recall the names of eight women in our life,” before sharing, “Statistically speaking, one of them will get or has breast cancer.”

She then revealed, “I am that one in eight in my friend group.”

Sara shared her shock over the diagnosis as she continued, “I have never been really sick a day in my life. I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. Breast cancer does not run in my family. And yet here I am with stage three breast cancer.”

Getting emotional, she said, “It is hard to say out loud.”

Sharing her treatment plan, she said, “I am in my second month of chemo treatments and will do radiation and a double mastectomy.”

Sidner continued, “Stage three is not a death sentence anymore for the vast majority of patients.”

Sara then shared some statistics that “shocked my system,” saying, “If you happen to be a Black woman, you are 41 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than your white counterparts… So, to all my sisters, Black and white and brown, out there, please, for the love of God, get your mammograms every year. Do your self-exams. Try to catch it before I did.”

Holding back tears, she went on to say, “Now here is something I could not have ever predicted would happen to me. I have thanked cancer for choosing me. I am learning that no matter the hell we all go through in this life… I am still madly in love with mine. Just being alive feels different now.”

Sara explained, “I am happier because I don’t stress about the foolish little things that used to annoy me. Now, every single day I breathe another breath, I celebrate that I am still here with you, and that I can still love and cry and hope. And that, my dear friends, is enough.”