Florida Reporter Undergoing Surgery After Eagle-Eyed Viewer Spotted a Cancerous Tumor on her Neck
A Florida reporter said she will be undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her neck after an attentive viewer recognized and messaged to tell her about it.
“Turns out, I have cancer. And I owe it to one of our wonderful WFLA viewers for bringing it to my attention,” Tampa reporter Victoria Price wrote on Twitter Thursday. Price shared an image of a viewer who commented after one of her on-air broadcasts, writing in an email, “Just saw your news report. What concerned me is the lump on your neck. Please have our thyroid checked. Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of your self.”
Price said she would be at work on Friday and would undergo surgery on Monday. “8 On Your side isn’t just a catchphrase at WFLA,” she wrote. “It’s our cornerstone. but the roles recently reversed when I found a viewer on MY side, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
“As a journalist, it’s been full throttle since the pandemic began. Never-ending shifts in a never-ending news cycle,” Price wrote. “Adjusting to remote workflows and in my case, taking on a new investigative role. We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind.”
A bit of ~personal news~ to share.
Turns out, I have cancer. And I owe it to one of our wonderful @WFLA viewers for bringing it to my attention.
I’ll be off work for a bit after tomorrow, but I’ll see y’all soon ? pic.twitter.com/UMsoj2SjtM
— victoria price (@WFLAVictoria) July 23, 2020
She said the Covid-19 pandemic led to testing delays, but that the surgery would involve removing the tumor, her thyroid and two lymph nodes. She added: “Had I never received that email, I never would call my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It’s a scary and humbling thought. I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email, me a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway. Talk about being on your side huh?”
Studies over the last several months have suggested thousands of Americans will die from preventable forms of cancer in the years ahead as a result of their inability to get tested during coronavirus-related shutdowns. Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged one estimate in a Monday speech of “10,000 or more deaths” over the next decade.
Price didn’t say which broadcast the viewer who messaged her had watched, though she said it was during one of many appearances in June on Tampa’s WFLA.
Watch one above via WFLA.
