A local news reporter in Florida expressed her gratitude Thursday to one of the station’s viewers -- a total stranger -- who contacted the reporter after seeing her on TV and suspecting she had undiagnosed cancer.
“A bit of ~personal news~ to share,” Victoria Price of WFLA-TV in Tampa wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Price said she had placed personal medical check-ups on the back burner amid the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, a time that for her has included long work hours and a new investigative role -- all while adjusting to working remotely.
“We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind,” she said.
“We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind.”
Last month she received an email from a viewer she didn’t know who told her a lump she noticed on Price’s neck reminded her of a symptom of her own cancer.
“Please have your thyroid checked,” the viewer wrote after mentioning she had noticed the lump while watching one of Price’s segments. “Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of yourself.”
Price said if the viewer hadn’t emailed her she never would have gone to see her doctor and the cancer would have continued to spread.
“It’s a scary and humbling thought,” she said.
Her doctor said the cancer has spread “but not too much,” she added.
After some coronavirus-related delays, she said she’ll be undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, her thyroid and some lymph nodes on Monday. She added she and her doctor hope it will be her first and last surgery.
“I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger,” Price said. “The world is a tough place these days. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take care of each other.”
"Literally makes up for each and every negative, awful viewer email EVER!," Price jokingly responded to a fellow local news reporter in Florida who tweeted that for every "crummy viewer with a snarky comment, there are dozens and dozens and dozens more out there who are looking out."
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WFLA wrote on Twitter the station was "sending all of our love to @WFLAVictoria and wishing her a speedy recovery."