CNN star Sara Snider announced some personal news on the air Monday: She is battling Stage 3 breast cancer.
“Recall the names of eight women who you love and know in your life,” Snider, 51, said Monday on CNN News Central.
“Statistically, one of them will get or have breast cancer. I am that one in eight in my friend group… I am in my second month of chemo treatments and will do radiation and a double mastectomy.”
Snider, a CNN News Central co-anchor, described the effect of the cancer as “something that I could never, ever have predicted would happen to me.”
“I have never been sick a day of my life. I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. Breast cancer does not run in my family. And yet, here I am with stage 3 breast cancer,” Snider said through tears.
“It is hard to say out loud.”
Snider discussed her diagnosis later in an interview with People magazine. She had been covering the Israel-Hamas War on location, and then she received a phone call with some bad news, a cause for concern in her mammogram.
She underwent a biopsy three weeks later upon her return to New York. She credited her time in the Middle East with giving her a universal perspective on suffering.
“Seeing the kind of suffering going on where I was and seeing people still live through the worst thing that has ever happened to them with grace and kindness, I was blown away by their resilience,” Snider told the magazine Monday.
“In some weird way, it helped me with my own perspective on what I am going to be facing.”
According to People, Snider plans to continue her work even during her treatment. She has yet to miss a day of work since starting chemotherapy on Dec. 8, and she even hosted a New Year’s Eve special until 2 a.m.
“The first thing I thought of was, ‘You better start writing letters to the people you love because you’re not going to be here,'” Snider told People.
“I just made a decision. I’m like, ‘No, you’re going to live and you’re going to stop this and you’re going to do every single thing in your arsenal to survive this. Period.’ And I have been so much happier in my life since… I don’t put my personal stuff out there that often, but I can do something for someone because I have cancer. I can warn somebody.”
On CNN, Snider emphasized the higher-than-expected rate of survival for today’s cancer patients.
“Stage 3 is not a death sentence anymore for the vast majority of women,” Snider said on CNN, while noting the higher mortality rate for Black women.
“To all my sisters, Black and White and Brown out there, please, for the love of God, get your mammograms every single year. Do your self-exams. Try to catch it before I did.”
Snider concluded her CNN announcement on a positive note.
“I don’t stress about foolish little things that used to annoy me,” Snider said.
“Every single day that I breathe another breath, I can celebrate that I am still here with you.”
Speaking to People, Snider told all cancer survivors, “It’s not the end of your world.”
Take a look at the CNN anchor’s emotional announcement —
Please for the love of God get your mammograms and do your self exams. I want you to thrive my sisters. 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷 pic.twitter.com/jIuW8WwSb2
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) January 8, 2024
The Horn editorial team