Sky News star says miracle cancer treatment has given her her life back
Sky News star says miracle cancer treatment has given her her life back
She has gone from planning her funeral to being five years cancer free
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Sky News star Jacquie Beltrao says she 'planned her funeral' after being diagnosed with stage-four cancer. The presenter has been speaking as she marks her 60th birthday, and celebrates being five years cancer-free in an exclusive interview.
The broadcaster, who turns 60 on Monday 21 April, said: 'My 60th birthday is a big celebration. In some ways turning 60 can fill you with dread, sometimes you feel people can look at you differently, but there were days I never thought I would make it to this point given the severity of my cancer. But here I am."
She added: 'I feel truly blessed and I was ready to have a big party to celebrate life. I have always been a very positive person, trying to find the right mindset to approach life, but almost exactly five years ago when I was told my cancer had spread, it was very hard not to start planning a funeral. But instead, I was planning a 60th birthday. It's wonderful to be able to say that.'
Jacquie, who was a gymnast in the 1984 Olympics and interviewing some of sport's great stars, has been fighting cancer for the past 12 years - but five years on from discovering she had stage 4 breast cancer after the doctors found the disease had spread to her legs and spine, a pioneering drug called Olaparib has meant she is fighting fit, been cancer-free for nearly half a decade and welcoming in her seventh decade in style.
Reflecting on how her former career has helped shape her mindset during her treatment for cancer, Jacquie said: 'It has definitely helped me. You have this belief and drive when you compete in elite sport.
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Jacquie Beltrao attends the Future Dreams Ladies Lunch
'I'm sure the fact that I know I was in a tiny fraction of people who were able to compete for their country at an Olympics gave me some belief that maybe I could be in the fraction of people who survive long after a cancer diagnosis that I got. But I can't emphasise enough how lucky I feel.'
The journalist, who lives in South West London with her husband Eduardo, has children, Amelia, 27, who is a newsreader on TalkSport radio, and sons Tiago, 24, a promotions and publicity executive, and Jorge, 23, an oil and shipping analyst.
In 2013 Jacquie was first diagnosed with cancer after noticing a lump. A mastectomy and reconstruction followed and at one point she was told the chances of any cancer returning in the next five years were around three out of 100. In 2020 – during the Covid lockdown – she found a tiny lump just below her collarbone, which she was told was the cancer, back and more aggressive than before. Doctors said it was stage 4 and that she would never be fully rid of it.
'It hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd always been positive in my outlook, looking for good news, good outcomes and then it became very hard to see them,' Jacquie said. 'I didn't know where to turn. I would have some very dark thoughts. I remember looking up how long people live for from stage 4 cancer and it said a max of two years."
Jacquie's cancer is no longer visible on scans. 'In June 2021, I had a scan and the doctor called me to say, 'You have very, very good results.' She told me there's no evidence of the disease at all.
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'I was stunned. She explained all of the tumours had gone on the scan, whereas eight weeks ago the cancer could be seen really prominently. She sent me over the scan and it was right, the evidence of cancer had gone. It was all down to this miracle drug. I remember telling Eduardo, the boys and Amelia and there was lots of hugging and crying, pure joy and relief.'
Jacquie, who still has regular check-ups, said: 'I've had my life back, I feel very blessed. Obviously, I'm aware that it could come back at any point as I have lived through that experience. I take two tablets of the drug twice a day and although it might sound strange, every time I take them out of the packet I feel grateful."
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