Our beloved brekky host Ali Clarke has revealed some very sad news in studio today.
“A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with bloody breast cancer” Ali shared with Max just after 7am this morning on the show.
“In all honesty, it’s been a pretty yucky time for me and the family.” Ali said, “Now the awesome news is that we’ve got this really, really, early. So, with everything going right, we’re hoping that I won’t need chemo”
“They found quite a lot of small, little cancers” she said, adding: “The process has been full on, I started with it being really positive and I was ready to take this on. Let me be really, really, clear, I do have the good end of this stick. I know that people listening right now will have lost people or have people going through this.”
“The long and the short of it is that I am going to have a full mastectomy. And if I’m truly honest, that bit’s been much more confronting”
“I’ve really battled with myself between being angry at myself about feeling vain losing a part of me. I’m losing a part of me that actually makes me a woman”
When asked why she decided to tell listeners such personal information, Ali stated: “It was important to tell our listeners because I have had the privilege of them trusting me with their stories and so I trust them with mine.
I wanted them to hear it from me, in my words and give them a chance to ask anything they want.
I also know that so many of our listeners have either lived through having cancer or know someone who has … even worse there will be lots of people who might have listened this morning or are reading this who have lost someone they love to this awful freaking disease. Over the last few weeks, I’ve thought of their loss a lot.”
Ali will be taking some time off for surgery next week and return shortly after pending the pace of her recovery.
Listen to the full moment below.
UPDATE:
A small silver lining has emerged in the last 24 hours since Ali has made her announcement. Breast Screen SA has had a huge rise in women calling it to get checked, helping detect and prevent cancer. This awareness is something that Ali was hoping to happen by speaking public of her diagnosis.
“One thing that I just hope is, even if one person went and had a mammogram and went to Breast Screen SA, or just went to the doctor to talk about it, then that to me, you know, it gives me a reason for having to go through this crap”. Ali said on the show this morning.
Lauren Civetta, Program Director of Breast Screen SA called in to let the brekky team know that after Ali’s announcement on the show yesterday, they received their second largest volume of calls for women wanting to book check ups. “Second only to Kylie Minogue” Civetta exclaimed, referencing the pop singer’s 2005 diagnosis. They received a staggering 779 bookings up until midnight last night, way about their average of around 350.
