HEARTBREAKING NEWS: BBC presenter announces incurable c@ncer diagnosis in emotional statement

BBC News Presenter Maryam Moshiri Reveals Incurable Blood Cancer Diagnosis After Two Years of Treatment

BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she is living with an incurable form of blood cancer after undergoing treatment in private for the past two years.

The 49-year-old broadcaster confirmed that she has polycythaemia vera, or PV, a rare cancer affecting the bone marrow that causes the blood to become thicker than normal.

Despite her diagnosis, Maryam has continued working through major international stories and broadcasts, including the coronation of King Charles, Eurovision, coverage of the Iran war and The World Today.

Speaking to The Times, she explained that the condition will remain part of her life permanently.

“It is going to be there till the day I die,” she said. “A big part of this disease is having to get on with life.”

For Maryam, that has meant refusing to allow the diagnosis to take away the career she loves.

“I love what I do. I love being where the story is,” she said. “I don’t want to allow blood cancer to stop me from doing my work.”

Working Through Treatment and Exhaustion

Maryam, who joined the BBC in 2003, has maintained a full broadcasting schedule while receiving treatment.

Part of her care has involved having blood removed to reduce the concentration of red blood cells.

The treatment and the illness itself have left her dealing with significant fatigue, something she has often had to manage while appearing calm and composed on air.

One of the most demanding periods came in April 2025, when she spent two weeks in Rome covering the death of Pope Francis.

“I was working 14-hour days, constantly on air, constantly having to think on my feet, and holding it together, despite the fact that I had this chronic tiredness and fatigue,” she recalled.

“When you’re doing live news, you have this rush of adrenaline, and you just have to get on with it.”

Her determination to continue working has allowed viewers to see little of what she was facing away from the studio.

But the impact at home has been much harder to conceal.

‘I Wasn’t There for My Kids’

Maryam, a mother of three, spoke candidly about the effect treatment has had on family life.

“During my worst times when I was going through really quite gruelling treatment, I wasn’t there for my kids,” she said.

She recalled lying on the sofa while one of her sons asked her to play football with him in the garden.

“You just can’t,” she said. “You’re too tired.”

There are also days when completing a shift at work leaves her with almost no energy once she gets home.

“I come home sometimes, and after work, I just lie there. I can’t move. I’m so tired.”

Eventually, Maryam decided she needed to explain her illness to her children.

Their immediate reaction reflected the fear many families experience when hearing the word cancer.

“They asked me, ‘Are you going to die, mummy?’” she recalled. “Of course, that was the first thing they said.”

Turning Her Experience Into Awareness

Maryam is now using her experience to support Blood Cancer UK’s new Here for This campaign.

The initiative aims to show how blood cancer affects everyday life, including work, parenting and ordinary family moments that can become far more difficult during treatment.

By speaking publicly now, Maryam is offering a glimpse of the reality she has kept largely private for two years.

Her story is not simply about continuing to present the news while undergoing treatment, but also about the exhaustion, uncertainty and family conversations that have taken place away from the cameras.

For Maryam, the diagnosis is something she knows she will continue to live with.

But she has made equally clear that she does not intend to let it define everything else.

Her work, her children and the everyday moments she is fighting to preserve remain at the centre of how she is choosing to move forward.