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EXCLUSIVE Kathie Lee Gifford fights back tears as she makes heartbreaking comment about her mortality after multiple health battles

EXCLUSIVE Kathie Lee Gifford fights back tears as she makes heartbreaking comment about her mortality after multiple health battles

Daily Mail​04-06-2025
Kathie Lee Gifford was overcome with emotion as she claimed her time is running out, weeks after opening up about enduring a 'really, really tough three years.'
The 71-year-old talked about her mortality at City of Hope's Spirit of Life Luncheon on Tuesday where she presented an award to her former Today show costar, Jill Martin.
Gifford, who had a hip replacement last year, was helped on stage at NYC 's Plaza Hotel by Martin, 49, at the behest of her 'personal therapist's orders.'
Gifford paid tribute to her close friend, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, describing her as 'one of my favorite people on the entire planet' - and the only person who could make her return to New York from her home in Tennessee.
'Over the years, our friendship has deepened us,' she said. 'Many do, if you are blessed. And honestly, I think about Jill and I smile even when she was going through her journey and she still is. We would get on the phone together and we pray and we'd laugh. I thank her for what she was doing for others.'
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Gifford urged the people inside the ballroom to 'be there for people' and 'whatever their journey is because it might change the next day.'
Her voice then trembled and she fought back tears as she addressed her own life.
'So when I say that Jill will be my friend for life, I mean it,' she said. 'She will be there for me and I will be there for her.
'I'll probably go a lot sooner. In fact, tick-tock, I better get off the stage.'
Gifford then laughed as she wrapped up her speech and let Martin take the stage.
As the entrepreneur accepted the Spirit of Life Award, Gifford was assisted down the stairs.
The former host of Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee has faced a number of health challenges in recent years.
In June 2024, she underwent a 'serious' and 'total' hip replacement surgery that left her in 'agonizing pain.'
During her recovery, she fractured her pelvis in two places after a freak fall at her home which left her hospitalized for over a week.
Speaking recently to OK! magazine, about her health setbacks she said: 'I've had a really, really tough last three years with parts of my body that have just worn out because I did so much in my life.
'I had my hip replaced, I had my shoulder done - that was from an old injury that finally got so bad, I couldn't ignore it anymore. Yet my health is perfect! I am crumbling!'
Meanwhile, 'friend for life' Martin is embracing being 'cancer free,' two years after being diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Martin said: 'I'm cancer free. I am on two [chemotherapy] safety net pills, which I call my best friends and I thank them every day because they're an important part of my treatment.
'But life is different. Life will be calendarized before and after. There's a lot of beautiful things that came out of it and magical things and things I learned about myself and then devastation.
'Kathie is one of the people who taught me about being able to hold opposing things at the same time and so you can be super happy and super sad, and so that's how I feel today.'
Gifford added: 'You can mourn and rejoice at the same time. That's what happened when I found my husband after his massive heart attack. I knew he saw Jesus and Jesus took his breath away so I knew exactly where he was.
'People can say, you know, you can look at something as a loss or you can look at what you still have and rejoice. It's the glimmers [in life].'
Gifford's ex-husband, Frank Gifford, died in August 2015 at his Connecticut home. He was 84. His family later disclosed that he had been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a progressive, degenerative brain disease.
Martin said she hopes to 'save at least one life today' by urging people to get their regular exams and informing guests that 'one in 400 of the general population test positive for the BRCA mutation, which gives you a 60 to 90 percent chance of getting breast cancer.'
Tuesday's luncheon was attended by other socialites including Howard Stern's wife Beth Stern and Fox 5's Good Day New York anchor Rosanna Scotto.
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  • Daily Mail​

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