BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed that she has been undergoing treatment for an incurable blood cancer for the past two years.
The 49-year-old received her shock diagnosis in November 2024, but made the decision to keep working while also managing her gruelling treatment.
Maryam joined the BBC in 2003 and is one of the news channel's best-known anchors.
She revealed she has been battling Polycythaemia vera (PV), a rare blood cancer. Although it cannot be cured, it can be managed effectively.
What is PV?
In PV, your body makes too many red blood cells, which makes the blood thicker than normal. It leads to a higher risk of developing blood clots, which can cause a stroke, heart attack, or deep vein thrombosis.
"I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer," Maryam told the BBC. "Mostly I had no symptoms and that's one of the problems with this disease.
"The only reason mine was caught was because my GP was so fastidious in the way she did my routine blood tests and immediately sent them for further diagnosis."
As part of her initial treatment, the mum-of-three endured several "debilitating" hour-long sessions of venesections about twice a month, when nearly a pint of blood is removed through a vein to reduce the concentration of red blood cells.
"In about a space of five months, I had venesection seven or eight times. So you can imagine my iron levels hit the floor and I felt even more exhausted," she said.
"After a while I started feeling extremely unwell and tired. I started losing my hair, I got itchy all over my body, but the main symptom was fatigue."
Family
Despite that extreme fatigue, Moshiri has continued to travel across the world covering the biggest stories over the last two years for the BBC, including leading the BBC’s coverage of the death of Pope Francis from Rome. But it took its toll on her family.
Maryam is a mother to three children, Iris, 13, Vivienne, 11, and nine-year-old Caspian, with her husband Jonathan.
She said: "It took me a long time to be able to tell them about this illness, because I don't want to worry them, but they have been so understanding. When I say things like 'mummy is too tired to play with you', they get it and they don't push it."
Maryam told the BBC she wanted to share her diagnosis to raise awareness about the disease, and is backing a new campaign called Here for This, by Blood Cancer UK.
"I think it's really important people understand that this blood cancer is incurable but it's manageable with the right treatment and you can lead a relatively healthy life.
"It's just a question of finding the right treatment and making sure it works for you."
