Edwina Bartholomew, of the Australian breakfast programme Sunrise, ended off a news bulletin with a deeply personal message - and one so poignant that it drove her to tears.
Shocked audiences watched as her co-host Natalie Barr took her hand and comforted her, as she revealed to the world that she now had leukaemia. It had been especially shocking for the 41-year-old as a routine blood test had picked up the disease.
She began to cry after revealing she'd been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia - and then she offered viewers some crucial advice.
As she'd had almost no symptoms, she hadn't been able to prepare herself for the bad news when the doctors broke it to her back in July - and initially thought her mild exhaustion was down to her 3am starts. She revealed: "Now, a personal story to finish the bulletin. I have been diagnosed with cancer.
"That’s a shock to say, and hard to say," she admitted, before reassuring guests that she had "a really good kind" which it is possible to treat "with a daily tablet". She added: "If I can take care of myself I will be completely absolutely fine."
Edwina had been working as a news presenter on the show for just three years at the time she received the bombshell diagnosis. She will now be leaving the show later this month to engage fully with her treatment, though she plans a staggered return to the breakfast show.
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Voicing her desire to share the bad news as well as the good in a bid to be totally transparent with viewers, she vowed: "I thought I could keep it together and I will."
She continued: "Many of you have been in similar situations or much, much worse and come out the other side stronger… and more resilient. There’s exactly what I plan to do."
Edwina explained that another reason she's sharing the news is to inspire others to take the same steps she did after age 40, when she began to "prioritise" her health.
"I got a skin check after [co-host] Nat had her scare. I had a mammogram after I had a few lumps – that came back all clear. I even had an eye check – that’s fine."
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However, her perseverance saw her get blood screening tests too - and the results came back "all out of whack".
That's when the Sunrise star realised the fatigue which she'd been dismissing as an inevitable consequence of her 3am starts could be something far more serious than first thought.
She explained: "That’s really common with this kind of cancer, chronic myeloid leukaemia. You don’t have symptoms - but if I hadn’t prioritised my health and had the check, it would be a different situation."
Edwina added that she is reacting well to initial medication and has had "no side-effects", while her life expectancy is unlikely to be reduced by the disease - but it's vital to act fast, so she's urging viewers to follow her example and get their own health checked out too.
