An Australian radio star may have saved several lives after she announced live on air this week that she had received a shocking cancer diagnosis.
Adelaide radio star Ali Clarke, who co-hosts Max & Ali in the Morning with Max Burford, burst into tears on Tuesday as she revealed she had breast cancer.
The item has prompted hundreds of Australian women to seek testing.
Lauren Civetta, BreastScreen SA programme director, says Clarke’s admission has led to almost 800 women in the state booking cancer screening appointments.
Civetta publicly thanked Clarke for sharing her story after 779 women in South Africa had mammograms, more than double the average of 350.
“There was an uplift in this very emotional time. 15 minutes can save your life,” Civetta said in a statement.
A similar situation arose after pop star Kylie Minogue announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2005, leading to an increase in cancer screenings in Australia and the UK.
Minogue was declared cancer-free in 2006.
Clarke told listeners Tuesday that she is taking a break from her radio show due to her treatment.
Australian radio star Ali Clarke may have already saved several lives after announcing her shocking cancer diagnosis live on radio this week
“It was important to tell our listeners because I’ve had the privilege of them trusting me with their stories, and I trust them with mine,” she explained.
“I also know that so many of our listeners have experienced cancer or know someone who has… even worse, there will be many people listening this morning or reading this who have lost someone they love to this terrible disease. Over the past few weeks, I have thought a lot about their loss.”
Ali asked one of her co-hosts to hold her hand before making the devastating announcement.
Adelaide radio star Ali Clarke, who co-hosts the talk show Max & Ali in the Morning with Max Burford, burst into tears on Tuesday as she revealed she had breast cancer
“The bottom line is that I’m going to have a full mastectomy. That means they’re going to remove one of my breasts. And if I’m being honest, that’s probably the part that’s a lot more confronting than I ever thought it would be,” she said.
“I thought it was very small and manageable. But I found quite a few small cancers. And that means I’m going to have a pretty major surgery later this week, and I’m going to have to take some time off to recover, as you can imagine.”
The radio presenter burst into tears as she spoke emotionally about ‘losing a part’ of herself.
Despite the heartbreaking diagnosis, Ali admitted she has been “very, very lucky” with the quality of healthcare she has received so far.
Lauren Civetta, director of the BreastScreen SA program, says Clarke’s admission has led to almost 800 women in the state booking cancer screenings
