CNN's Sara Sidner Shares Serious Health Update Live On Air
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Sara Sidner attends 17th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at The American Museum of Natural History on Dec. 10, 2023, in New York City.
On Monday, Jan. 8, CNN's Sara Sidner announced a serious health update live on-air.
The senior national correspondent, 51—who is also the anchor for CNN News Central in the mornings—revealed she has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
During the morning edition of CNN News Central, Sidner explained she is in her second month of chemotherapy treatments and will need a double mastectomy and radiation.
"Stage 3 is not a death sentence anymore for the vast majority of women," she said, also sharing a shocking statistic: Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than their white counterparts.
Additionally, the journalist encouraged women to be diligent about getting their yearly breast exams—especially considering one in eight women will be diagnosed within their lifetime.
"I have never been sick a day in my life. I don't smoke. I rarely drink," Sidner shared. "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."
In October, Sidner learned her mammogram results came back abnormal right before she traveled to Israel to report on its war with Hamas, People reported. Three weeks later, she returned to New York City, where she had a biopsy that confirmed a cancerous lump.
"Seeing the kind of suffering going on where I was and seeing people still live through the worst thing that has ever happened to them with grace and kindness, I was blown away by their resilience," Sidner told People of witnessing the Israel-Hamas war. "In some weird way, it helped me with my own perspective on what I am going to be facing."
She added: "Mentally, it has been 90% good for me because it's just opened my eyes to how beautiful this life that we have is. I love my life now more than I can remember since probably 7 or 8. I really, truly feel grateful just to be here."
